Humagne

Today's trip to the Lake Geneva area of Switzerland was difficult the day after Thanksgiving. Stuffed with turkey and everything else we consumed, I was surprised that GrapeOfTheDay Airlines let us fly. But, that they did and with that, we are in the Swiss Canton of Valais. 

Geographically and climatically, Valais is perhaps the most diverse of all the cantons (there are 26 of them if memory serves me) of Switzerland. Home to the Matterhorn as well as the Rhone valley the river comes out of the mountains, it is the wettest canton in the country and at the same time the dryest. No, not the same places. But, both the wettest and dryest parts of Switzerland are in Valais.

The name of the canton goes back to Roman times when looking at the river valley, the Romans called the area Vallis Poenina. As happens to many words, the Latin word for valley was altered just a bit to Valais and that is the origin.

While we think of Switzerland today as the place of peace in the world -- the neutral place -- it has not always been that way. Wars were fought for control of the beautiful area known for its glacially formed river valley from Roman times until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. But, by the end of those wars, Valais becaome part of Switzerland and so it has remained.

We're here today to drink wine from a grape that is thought to be indigenous to the area. While it was long thought to have originated in the Iralian state of Aosta next to the Piemonte, there is no evidence to support it. And, today, even under different names, Humagne is thought to be a Swiss-only grape (very minimal amounts are grown in Aosta).

Unlike many of my posts, my notes on Humagne are both real and current although I could not have said that before yesterday. On a recommendation, I picked up a bottle as one that we could serve with our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and after doing a bit of pre-drinking learning, I decided that we would, in fact, serve it.

Humagne Rouge (there is a Blanche version as well, but we're not tasting it today) is a hearty grape. It ripens late and harvests fairly late as well. It's a bit tannic and appears to perform well when aged in oak. On the nose, it was quite floral, in particular the violet that you would expect from Nebbiolo grown just to the south in the Piemonte. Unlike Nebbiolo, however, while this wine is certainly not without tannins, it does not drink like it has anywhere near the ageability of Nebbiolo.

On the palate, some of those floral notes remain. But, it is also loaded with the tastes of bright fruit growing wild, an interesting and tasty compliment to moist turkey with all the trimmings. In particular, some of the notes were what I would imagine to be freshly picked cranberries, obciously a great pairing.

Given more time to pair, I expect I would choose smaller to mid-sized game, or perhaps duck or goose. But, it was a wonderful Thanksgicing experiment to go with the other wines we served as well.

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