I haven’t any solid idea how many books there are on Swiss wine. It seems like maybe two in English with one from 1994. Regardless, even if there were a baker’s dozen, I’m very much of the opinion that on any front, this “Switzerland: Smart Traveller’s Wine Guide is the only one you’ll need.
What I mean by that is, unless you’re planning to become the next expert on the wines of this Alpine nation, you really don’t need anything more than what the authors, Simon Hardy and Marc Checkley have put forward.
It checks off all the points of what has come to be the de facto format for wine guides for traveling. There’s a bit of history, then a breakdown of regions (albeit “German Speaking Region” is ominous on the map), then grape varieties, and then of course a fine selection of wines and wineries as well as places to visit.
Suffice to say, I learned a tremendous amount from this book. While my knowledge of Swiss wine wasn’t ‘tremendous’ to start, I had some vague idea of the basics. I didn’t however know that 60% of production is red nor that Merlot and Gamay dominate along with Pinot Noir. There are in fact some 250 grape varieties at large in the country which makes it one of the most diverse in Europe.
Whenever I manage to get around to visiting Switzerland, this book is coming along. In addition to being an excellent resource for anyone wanting to do some enotourism out in the weeds (and I love that they mention the trains to get to said weeds), it’s incredibly useful for when in the cities and presented with a wine list of Swiss producers and regions, as this pocket-sized tome provides an excellent cheat sheet.
My only issue would be that while it’s stated on the back that the book was produced via funding from Swiss Wine Vaud and Travel Switzerland, there’s no mention if the featured wineries and destinations also paid to be included. I mention this as it’s a common practice for wine books in Spain, who never, ever mention that it’s pay to play. While I don’t doubt that the recommendations by two qualified writers are indeed solid wines, I would like to know if it was done on an even playing field.
That bit out the way, this is definitely a fine resource that has upped the ante in terms of this line of books from Academia du Vin Library.
★★★★★
Review copy provided by the publisher
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