Second in white wines of Valais (after Fendant). The name Johannisberg is only used in Valais; the rest of French-speaking Switzerland call it Gros Rhin. The grape used to make Johannisberg is the Grüner Sylvaner. The origin of the grape is not clear. On the one hand it strongly resembles the Roman Apianisien (loved by bees) grape, as described by Pliny the Elder in his “Historia naturalis”, on the other hand, its more likely birthplace is in Romanian Transylvania.
Cru de l’Hôpital
These are the city vineyards of Murten. The name “Cave de l’Hopital” harkens back to the XIV century when the production was used to fund the community hospital.
Link:
Cave de l’Hopital
Email:
info@cru-hopital.ch Route du Lac 200
Môtier-Vully 1787 Switzerland
Phone:
+41(0)26 673.19.10
See map: map.search.ch, Google Maps
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The Wine Grapes of Switzerland
Johannisberg
Sémillon
Hard to believe that Sémillon’s main claim to fame is its propensity to rot, but because of its soft skin Sémillon is prone to Botrytis cinerea (a.k.a. “noble rot”). The “rot” concentrates the acid and sugar in the grape, and the resulting wine can be complex, rich, sweet, and aromatic. In short: pretty damn nice. The best known of this sweet style wine is Sauternes, coming from the Sauternais region of the Graves, near Bordeaux in France.
Sémillon can also make an elegant dry white wine, but since it can be short on acidity, it is often vinified with Sauvignon blanc.
Gwäss
Gwäss is the German-ized name of Gouais Blanc.
He who loves not wine, women and song remains a fool his whole life long.
Martin Luther
