Wines of the French Alps: Wink Lorch

Wink Lorch's tasting of Alpine wines and book celebration at Terroirs, London

Cheese, wine and bread is a simple and classic combination. Yet simple need not mean unsophisticated; a flight of 28 Alpine wines chosen with impeccable taste, superb Alpine cheeses and fresh baguettes plus chat with Alpine vignerons and merchants.

I have long agreed with Wink's view that Alpine wines have their own particular character, a certain light freshness, reminiscent of an Alpine meadow.

The wines selected by Wink were not so much defined by their Alpine nature as all bearing a family resemblance.

There was fizz (in two colours), whites and reds, youg wines, old wines, magnums, aromatic wines and versatile wines, varietals and blends with obscure grapes such as Gringet, Mondeuse, Chasselas, Persan. There were even cross-border wines from French, Swiss and Italian-grown grapes and a pair of bottles from the year the Berlin Wall came down.

In general, the whites were lemony and leesy-oatmealy with white stone fruit; the reds showed red berry fruits with fine tannins. Delicate wines with a Burgundian elegance, they were harmonious, balanced and savoury and of a very good standard all round.

Head to any of the merchants who supported the event and try some of these wonderful wines - ideally, two or three bottles for a comparative tasting over some Gruyere and Comte.

Vine Trail
Alpine Wines
Bibendum
Caves de Pyrene
Raeburn

And if that piques your interest, check out Wink's book, Wines of the French Alps: Savoie, Bugey and beyond.