Alpine Wine Tasting and Food Pairings
Finding your preferred wines requires frequent exposure. For optimal results, ensure your palate is prepared by having eaten prior to a tasting session and not wearing perfume or lotions that may interfere with tasting notes.
The Alps may be better known for hiking trails and ski gondolas than vineyards, but vintners are taking advantage of its winding topography to produce distinctive vintages.
Wine Tastings
When people think of Europe’s alpine regions, their mind likely wanders to snow-clad ski slopes and beautiful hiking trails framed by impossibly breathtaking mountain vistas. Yet these rugged mountains also contain vibrant winemaking cultures: these wines made from indigenous grape varieties grown at higher elevations are distinguished by low alcohol levels, striking acidity, and complex minerality – an attractive feature among wine drinkers around the world.
Discover the alpine wines of France, Italy, and Austria during this enlightening guided tasting experience. Whether your preference lies with white, red, or sparkling wines – they all promise an exhilarating adventure for both tastebuds and imagination alike! You will gain new appreciation of these distinctive alpine wines and gain insight into why they pair so perfectly with hearty alpine cuisine.
No matter whether you are searching for the top local wineries or traveling abroad for an authentic experience, these vineyards produce stunning wines as beautiful as their surroundings. Discover a world of natural beauty and flavor at Feathertop Winery or discover Billy Button Wines with its extensive range while taking in stunning vistas.
Join the Leelanau Cheese Company for an enjoyable evening and sample wines and cheese from Switzerland, France and Italy’s Alpine regions! A professional from Leelanau Cheese Company will introduce a carefully curated selection of Alpine cheeses from Western Europe that pair beautifully with our Alpine wines from those regions.
Swiss and French Alpine wines make the perfect pair for Raclette, an irresistibly satisfying dish composed of melting local cheese served over mini potatoes, cured ham, cornichons and served from a table-top “raclette” machine. Join Ravines Winery for a guided tasting of their expressive aromatic white wines prepared in their cozy cellar alongside this irresistibly delicious meal; reservations required with limited availability so please call or email ahead for details!
Vineyard Tours
Wine’s charm lies in its diversity; produced in numerous regions worldwide. A quality wine tour should offer more than just tasting; instead it should provide guests with the opportunity to experience and understand a region through an immersive tour experience.
Wine tours typically include knowledgeable guides who can offer insights into the vineyard’s history and wine varieties that might otherwise not be accessible. Furthermore, these knowledgeable guides may share personal stories about vineyard owners as well as unique features of each location that cannot be easily discovered through research online.
Wineries provide visitors with an opportunity to learn more about themselves and their wines while taking in breathtaking scenery. Vineyards often are located in scenic settings surrounded by verdant hills and valleys, giving visitors a peaceful retreat from daily stressors. A quality winery tour is an excellent opportunity for friends or families looking for a relaxing escape from busy life.
Winery tours offer another excellent opportunity to discover local cuisine. Many vineyards feature restaurants on-site serving delicious meals such as cheese plates and fondue. Visitors can sample these delicacies while sipping on wine from different vineyards, even pairing different wines together to see which combinations work well together.
Alpine wines offer something new for anyone seeking something different in their wine repertoire. Hailing from mountainous regions across Switzerland, France and Italy, Alpine wines boast low alcohol levels with vibrant acidity for refreshingly unique flavors that pair beautifully with various foods – perfect all year long!
Food & Wine Pairings
Food and wine pairing is as individual as your preferences are; generally speaking, however, certain wines tend to pair better with certain foods due to specific characteristics in both. For instance, wines with higher acidity tend to pair best with lighter dishes, while salty dishes bring out mineral-driven white wines. Finally, fatty or cheesey foods can enhance some ripe red wines’ flavors.
However, Alpine wines make an unexpected pairing partner: thanks to their distinct climate, grape varieties, and viticultural techniques. Alpine whites from Switzerland’s Valais can stand up against hearty dishes such as woodland mushrooms or locally-sourced Herens beef (air-dried beef soaked in wine). And Mondeuse and Schiava–both celebrated Alpine reds–are perfect companions for cheese, as their lower alcohol levels temper their intensity of flavors in these alpine wines.
Sommeliers and wine enthusiasts alike are taking notice of Alpine wine, seeking out unexpected combinations for their own pleasure. Carlin Karr, wine director at Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado has made sure to include bottles from Italy on her wine list for several years; at Olympia Provisions Public House on Division Street in Portland Oregon sommelier Jessica Hereth has revamped the compact list to include Alpine bottles of low intervention.
As a sommelier or someone who simply appreciates pairing their meals with the ideal wines, one of the best ways to find new matches is through experimentation. Keep an eye out for unexpected matches that surprise and delight–don’t forget to share any fantastic combinations you discover with friends!
Wine Education
Most people associate the Alps with skiing slopes and beautiful hiking scenery characterized by towering peaks. Yet this crescent-shaped mountain range also hosts diverse winemaking cultures that produce subtle white, rose, and red wines with unique tastes and characteristics.
Alpine wines are not limited to being enjoyed at apres ski parties; they pair beautifully with various foods and can be enjoyed any time of year. Over recent decades, various factors have combined to put Alpine wines back on the map; climate change being one of them: acidity levels in Alpine grapes are typically very high compared with their delicate flavors being overwhelmed. As such, creating drinkable still wines becomes difficult.
An additional factor has been the growth in demand for lower-alcohol wines. Grape varieties grown in the Alps–such as Mondeuse and Schiava–tend to have lower alcohol levels due to their cooler climates, making these wines very appealing among people looking for flavor without giving up alcohol content. This has made these wines highly favored among people looking for an enjoyable drinking experience without compromising taste for alcohol content.
Alpine wines have experienced increased success due to an upsurge in regional and terroir-specific bottlings. These wines offer consumers an intimate connection to the regions from which their wines originate, giving them more insight into where these beverages hail.
Wine education is a lifelong quest. There are numerous methods of learning about wine, from casual classes with friends or at local wineries to formal certification programs like Wine & Spirits Educational Trust’s (WSET) Wine Master Diploma exam series with four levels culminating in its final level – San Francisco Wine School is part of this certification, while London-based 67 Pall Mall members club offers its services here in America as well.
National Wine Scholar (WS) courses provide more in-depth study of one country’s wines. Offered by individual wine schools, these courses can either take place physically in person or online.