Fete de Suisse and a busy week

Monday 1st August, La Fete de Suisse. Everybody is wearing clothes with the national colours, everybody is out partying, the shores of the lake are busy like they rarely are, everybody is out enjoying a barbecue and waiting for the big fireworks on the lake in the evening. Of course we need also to celebrate and we decide to do it in pure Swiss Style: with a great fondue and some lovely Swiss white wine. We decide to go to a small, typical cafe - Cafe' de Paudex. For the occasion they have a piano player accompanying our perfectly Swiss dinner under vine trellises. The weather, during this weird summer, is for at least one night on our side, nice and warm enough to be able to dine outside with just a polo shirt. The fondue is deliciously cheesy and the best meal to celebrate this special day. We enjoy our fondue with a nice Savagnin Blanc from Domaine Gallard from Lavaux. Savagnin Blanc is a grape mostly known in France for the incredible Vin Jaune from the area of Jura, here in Switzerland, we have a dry version that accompanys perfectly the pot of melted cheese.  We finished our evening enjoying the beautiful fireworks on the lake - spectacular and not to be missed!

The rest of the week was a lot of work but some interesting new wines have been drunk on the last couple of days. On Friday night with friends we opened an interesting Bandol Rose from Domaine J.P. Gaussen for apero. We bought this bottle at the Domaine, definitely a place that if you are in the area is worth to see. It is a very small familiar Domaine and Mr. Gaussen is a typical old style French Vigneron that immediately struck us with his eccentric personality. His Bandol Reds are quite well know and can age forever. His Rose has everything a rose needs and is a nice accompaniment with our little apero.  After that we opened a bottle of Ilatraia 2005 from La Brancaia. This estate, owned by a Swiss couple who moved to Tuscany long ago,  has property in the Chianti area but as well in Maremma and the latter is where the Ilatraia is made. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Petit Verdot with a very international style. I bought this bottle a few years ago when I was making my first steps in the wine world. We really enjoyed it with our chargrilled steaks. However, I am not sure if I would buy it again, as I said the style is really international, and while the wine was really good I think it lacked a distinct character. And on top of this it is not that cheap!

And then, last night I had a first in my life. I am a bit ashamed to say this, especially because I am such a food lover, but last nigth was the first time in my life I prepared my own pesto. Pesto is normally something I buy at the supermarket and simply throw on my pasta on nights that I am in a hurry and have no time to cook. Of course I try to buy the smaller artisinal products as opposed to the cheap supermarket brands but nevertheless ..... But last night I have to say it was another story. I decide to do the pasta al pesto on the way that is done in Liguria and that I ate when I was last there. With the fresh basil we picked up at the market in the morning, I prepared this fantastic little pesto sauce and together with the pasta I cooked some diced potatoes and french beans. The result was stunning, the perfect plate for a summer night. BUONISSSSSIMO! Of course, we needed a bit of wine to go with our homemade pesto and so we opened a bottle of white from a very small producer from Liguria in the Colli di Luni area, GIUNCARO 2009 from Santa Caterina di Andrea Kihlgren. The wine is a blend of Tocai and Sauvignon Blanc and only 4600 bottles are produced. It was the perfect regional pairing with the pasta.