Friday, April 23, 2010

Amigne



A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to taste a number of wines made from a white grape you just don't see in Canada: Amigne. We were visiting in the vicinity of Sion in Valais and stopped by the Cave des Tilleuls winery of Fabienne and Marc-Henri Cottagnoud in the little town of Vetroz. Marc-Henri tends the vines while Fabienne takes charge after picking. They use an interesting little label on the back of the bottle with a series of 3 bees which signify the level of sweetness of the wines. One bee for a residual sugar level of 0-8 g/l, two bees for 9-25 g/l, and three bees for more than 25 g/l.
I liked the first wine I tried best. It was the 2008 (the eight is actually placed sideways like an infinity sign, another curiosity) and was a dry (one bee) unoaked Amigne. It was clean and crisp and would work nicely with white fish. We had friends over last Friday who enjoyed it paired with the local Comte and Gruyere cheeses as well. Another thoughtful idea is the variety of bottle sizes. In addition to the typical 750ml, there is a handy 500ml as well as the 375ml half bottle.