OK, hands up who knows anything about Swiss wine? Nobody? I can’t see any hands, so I’m going to take it that you know as little as I did about Swiss wines before we teamed up with our partners, Harrison’s. Harrison’s is one of London’s leading importers of Swiss wines, a speciality they have developed for over twenty years.
So we’re looking forward to this weekend, when Doug Harrison will join us on Friday and Saturday with samples of at least six Swiss wines, white and red, all available to buy. We’ve pushed the boat out and got ourselves a temporary licence so we can sell booze, for once. And news like that is worth celebrating, I think.
We’ve got the wine, and we’ve got the cheese to go with it. We’re very proud of our range of Swiss mountain cheeses, sourced from small co-operatives and dairies. So proud, in fact, that we want you all to share it. We’re giving away – yes, GIVING AWAY – a free piece of 18 month old Gruyere Alpage with every bottle of Swiss wine we sell. I know.
We’re giving away the good stuff here. Gruyere Alpage is made only with summer milk, when the cows are feeding from the high pastures in the Alps, in fields rich in herbs and wild flowers. You can only imagine what a diet like that does for the flavour of their milk.
The resulting cheese is then matured for over a year – ours will be at least 14 months old when we receive it – so it will have developed deep nutty, savoury flavours and an aroma that I put down to the herby content in the milk. No-one’s contradicted me yet, so let’s say that’s what it is. It’s wonderful stuff. And, as in so many cases, the ideal wine to go with it is made not far away. A crisp, slightly effervescent Fendant would go down a treat with this, one of the world’s great hard cheeses.
We’ll be tasting Swiss wines on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 September between 11am and 5pm. And the following week, on Friday 30 September and Saturday 1 October, we’ll do it all again at Harrison’s in Ealing. We look forward to seeing you there.
Details:
Swiss wine tasting
11am-5pm
Friday 23 and Saturday 24 September:
Mortimer & Bennett
33 Turnham Green Terrace
Chiswick
London
W4 1RG
Tel: 0208 995 4145
11am-5pm
Friday 30 September and Saturday 1 October
Harrison’s
60 Pitshanger Lane
Ealing
W5 1QY
Tel: 0208 998 7866