Chanteauvieux Dole Du Valais AOC 2007

My wife keeps asking when I am going to start posting the Swiss wines. Well, here is the first of many to come. For such a small country, Switzerland has produced some outstanding wines. Then again, nestled between Italy, France and Austria you would expect some great wines. Before someone corrects my geography, I have left Liechtenstein and Germany out of the mix even though they border Switzerland too. Sorry, but they don't compare to the other three countries for wines. Riesling fans will disgree with me. This medium bodied wine comes from the Canton of Valais which is located in the southwest corner of Switzerland along the borders of France and Italy. This is the largest wine producing Canton in Switzerland. The Chanteauvieux Dole is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay, a grape well known in the Beaujolais region of nearby France. I do not know what the exact percentage of the blend is but it has nice fruity aromas of strawbrries from the Gamay and cherries expected in the Pinot Noir. I also thought there was an abundance of aromas of musty barnyard along with some oak. The fruitiness was present on the palate but was also sour. There was also some mushroom flavors and a hint of truffles. The tannins were very smooth and the finish was medium. You could pair this wine with ham, sausages, white meats and even cheeses. Better yet, serve it with a swiss meal of either cheese fondue or fondue chinoise. I struggled with this wine, but my wife really enjoyed it. After all the great Swiss wines I have had, this would rank in the lower level. Two drawbacks to Swiss wines are their high prices and they are difficult to find. There are not a lot of Swiss wines imported by the US unfortunately. They are extremely good wines.