Cherouche Noces de Madeleine 2019

Region: Swiss Alps, Switzerland

Varietal: Pinot / Gamay

Andrea Grossman, a painter and former teacher, and Marc Balzan, who worked formerly in the hospitality worlds of food and wine in both France and Switzerland, form the duo of Cherouche. Working a mere 1.6 hectares of high altitude vines in the foothills of the Swiss alps, and just over the border from the Jura, Cherouche sometimes feels like that kind of discovery that you know is true, but still can’t believe it. It would be one thing if the wines felt novel or like stylistic copies of wines from France, but they truly don’t feel like either. Jura may be the closest comparison in thinking about these wines, as in both whites and reds, there is a reductive quality on both the nose and palate that seduces in a similar way—but the whites take on more of an almost structured spring water tepache feel on the tongue as the juice opens up, while the reds persuade with cold pressed berries, acid always in balance. Marc and Andrea’s wines are psychedelic examples of the possibilities of vin nature, and to me, feel essential in any serious modern drinker’s cellar. 

Words via Canta.Club