Red Wine of the Year – Swiss Pinot Noir from the French Region – Under $35 on a Case, Drinks like $100+star Fabrice Simonet

Red Wine Of The Year
It had to be Swiss. We picked up 8+ new Swiss estates the past year as it is the most exciting up and coming Pinot Noir region in the world. Germany is a very close 2nd. As I selected and tasted through these wineries the past year, I was looking for a pinot noir that batted way way above even the wines on our portfolio and also one that I could sell under $40 to get it into as many hands as possible.

This is one of the greatest Pinot Noir values I have ever encountered. What’s so special about the wines of Le Petit Chateau is the exquisite quality of the fruit which tastes and smells like it came from a Burgundy appellation that doesn’t quite exist yet. 

The Vully AOC in Switzerland – A Region of Huge Promise
So one of the things that you learn when you travel in Switzerland is that the official name “The Swiss Confederation” is no joke. A confederation is a government which is a union of individual states. And Switzerland is really 3 groups of states with different languages and cultures. The groups are the French states, the Italian states and the German states. The Swiss themselves refer to the other states as almost foreign countries.

Vully is a valley between 3 lakes and between the Jura and the Alps. So you get
– Perfect mountain terroir for elegant wines.
– French winemaking culture with a particular expertise in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Le Petit Chateau
Le Petit Chateau has been in the Simonet family for 200 years. Fabrice took over winemaking 5 years ago. His brother runs the vineyards. Fabrice, like most Swiss winemakers, spent 1 year in formal training at winemaking school and then 3 years interning. He has taken the family winery ahead a leap in only a few vintages and has great upside given his intelligence, training and hard work.

These wines are fantastically well made but quite far from the “ski region” of Grissons and as such really dramatically underpriced. 

The Wine
The Red wine of the year is the 2022 Le Petit Chateau Pinot Noir Selection for $36.99 a bottle on a 4 pack purchase and $34.99 on a 12 bottle case. I’m really sort of confused as to why this wine costs so little given that it’s a selection of their top pinot noir grapes and it’s really good.  

The nose is just classic Burgundian elegance. Again you get that scene in nature effect. Sweet wood, dark cherry, lilacs and even some dark roses. Licorice as well. Gorgeous penetrating aromas. Raspberry essence and dusty earth. Knockout nose. Think traditional Volnay except instead of lilacs, you get cherry flower and hints of bitter almond. A wine to sit with and enjoy just on the nose. Some mid season cherries with some nice elegant density. Wow! Wow. So elegant. So deep and layered. 

The palate is really remarkable. Yes, this is delicious and well made but, of course, you get a slightly different instantiation of pinot noir because of the terroir. Palate is super elegant and juicy with extraordinary fruit. Juicy and concentrated with killer inner mouth aromas and the fruit skin essence of blackberry, black cherry skin and morello cherries melt into your cheeks and are buffered by excellent acidity Of course, you get the classic, elegant Pinot Noir cherry fruit. Some lovely elegant density – not bang you over the head density but a density that you feel that the fruit is there and with some impact. So clean and precise. And then you get a panoply of secondary and tertiary flavors. Some barely there but so fascinating bitter almonds. Some cherry licorice. Great grip, concentration and structure. Dynamite. As this airs it gets so silky and so focused. Easy 9.5. Beautiful licorice flower and cherry flowers. A mere hint of chocolate. They all exist on the palate but swirl on the internal aromatics.

This is a wine that should cost closer to $100 through 3 tier than what I am charging today. It’s exceptionally well made and for Pinot geeks, very distinctive. Really a case purchase consideration – no reason not to drink this at least once a month at this price.

Please visit my new Tasting Notes Blog on all wines that I have sold through Fass Selections. It is constantly updated.

Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your firstorder if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).

OFFICE HOURS 4-7 PM 
I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday