Valais AOC Dôle Sélection 1291
Good for: charcuterie
Dole is a wine from the Swiss canton of Valais. The taste is very similar to pinot noir and is actually a blend of pinot noir and gamay.
The wine has quite a sharp taste at first but then lightens into a thin easily drinkable wine. There is a definite berry flavour with a slight hint of spiciness.
It is a little too watery for our taste as we prefer big, bold wines but it was nice to try a local Swiss wine.
The bottle itself is somewhat of a Swiss souvenir - the 1291 Rütli oath is written around the bottle:
The moon was high in the sky and the white band of the Milky Way lay across the sky just above Lake Lucerne. The light breeze descending from the Gotthard could hardly be felt. It rippled the surface of the water and played with the reflection of the moon in the night. The jagged peaks of the mighty mountains of Uri and Schwyz pointing majestically into the sky. A cathedral silence reigned. Men and beasts slept. Only a small fire burned on the Rütli, surrounded by forests. There, some men were watching, lit by a flickering light. They spoke little. Attentive, they strained their ears in the direction of the lake. Sometimes Walter Fürst rose and walked, deeply absorbed in his own thoughts, towards the edge of the meadow where the view plunged to Brunnen. Lit by the moon, his white hair shone like snow on a glacier. Sounds of oars striking the water rose from the lake. Schwyz friends approached. They landed with their two boats and climbed the steep path leading to the secret place in the Rütli prairie. From Yberg, they lent a hand to old Konrad Hunn who struggled on shaky legs. Walter Fürst went to meet the men and offered an intense handshake to his dear friend Werner Stauffacher. Once up, they went to the fire where they greeted their friends with restrained shouts of joy. Soon, other men emerged from the forest. Their heads were covered with the hoods on their shepherd's camisoles, and they held gnarled sticks in their hands. The men were from Unterwalden. They had left their farms in the early evening, led by the young Arnold to the secret place. Tired yet happy, they sat by the fire. After that they all were greeted and introduced to Werne.