The embarrassing story of my first *real* Champagne

Oh wow. Its been…well forever. Sorry guys, if anyone is still out there. I’ve been drowning in vats of Champagne. No just kidding. I’ve been travelling, working, and most importantly….planning the first ever Salon du Champagne in Switzerland!

The overview? 22 November at the Swissotel Metropole in Geneva, come taste 100 + Champagnes from 25 different Champagne houses. You’ll be able to taste the brands you know and love….Pommery, Deutz, Mumm, Roederer, etc. but also grower Champagnes, that have never been tasted in Switzerland! To find out more go here: www.salon-du-champagne.com.

But first…my first taste of *real* Champagne.

I still remember my first ever taste of (real) Champagne. I was 22, living in Las Vegas and had a burgeoning interest in wine. My friends and I decided to visit a local wine shop. When we arrived, we saw there was a wine tasting and decided to try some wines. I had taken a few wine classes and knew a little about wine. The gentleman from the winery poured us some of the first wine and I really enjoyed it…the fruitiness, the lovely texture and I said:  “This champagne is lovely, where does it come from?”

The response? “Mademoiselle, Champagne only comes from Champagne!”

I was confused, and my fiancé (who was living in Paris at the time) was mortified. To be fair, I grew up in the Philippines and the United States where we call any sparkling wine Champagne and had only started drinking wine two years prior.

Fast forward 7 years, and I’m the first American ever to win in the ‘Concours Européen des Ambassadeurs du Champagne.’ I love Champagne: the wine, the region, the people…and I want to show people how fantastic and unique Champagne can be. 

I host a lot of Champagne events: tastings, courses, dinners, etc. and one of the most common comments I receive is that the participants enjoyed the event because they never get to try different Champagnes next to each other. They have Champagnes in isolation, at the beginning or end of a meal. They say its really interesting to try multiple Champagnes and find out their taste.

On 22 November, we’ll be tasting over 100 different Champagnes! You will be able to taste, learn, and understand this legendary beverage and be able to buy some, just in time for the holiday season. Tickets are 49 chf until 7 November and you can buy them here.  We hope you’ll join us over a glass of Champagne!

Swiss Wine and Swiss Cheese!

Ah, Switzerland, home to idyllic sweeping pastures with cows grazing and overlooking a backdrop of gorgeous mountains. Switzerland is home to about 450 types of cheese and produces over 1.1 million hectolitres of wine per year. There are over 40 indigenous grape varietals in Switzerland, many of them found only in this small, mountainous country and undiscovered elsewhere…

One of the great classic pairings is cheese and wine. This is also one of the easiest ways to make a great wine and/or a great cheese really stink…so lets delve into the world of Swiss wine and Swiss cheese!

There are many types of cheese, but I will concentrate on these 4 main types of cheese:

Fresh – soft cheeses such as goat milk chevre, Neufchatel, mozzarella

Bloom – Soft, creamy cheese with an edible white outer layer (aka the bloom)

Hard – Pretty self explanatory – a cheese with low moisture content & salt tangy-ness

Blue – pungent, generally soft cheese with a blue tinge

The best cheese plate will have a variety of cheeses, so pick your favorites!

Soft Swiss Cheese :

Tomme vaudoise – from the canton of Vaud and Geneva, this is a lovely mild, soft cheese. Its not aged, and very creamy. Try this with one of Switzerland’s most noble varietals – Chasselas (called Fendant in the Valais) – its freshness and tang will pair great with the wine! One of my favorites is the Chasselas from Ecole de Changins. This wine is mineral and fresh and will compliment a lot of creamy cheeses.

Chasselas is native to Switzerland and produces full bodied, fruity, dry white wine.

Creamy Swiss Cheese:

Vacherin Mont d’Or

This thick, creamy cheese from the Franco-Swiss border should never be served too cool. It has the perfect melt in your mouth texture that is wonderful after a meal or served on toasty bread. A wonderful compliment to this cheese would be a Pinot Gris from Geneva from Domaine du Chambet, a Riesling, or the Solaris varietal grown near Zurich.

Solaris is a varietal that grows well in the canton of Zurich. It is beautifully perfumed with floral and tropical fruit aromas.

Semi-hard Swiss Cheese:

Appenzeller – hailing from the north, this robust, slightly spicy, herbal cheese would go perfectly with a light, fruity pinot noir from Grisons. A closely guarded herbal brine is applied to the cheese during the aging process. the herbacity of the cheese will match the slightly herbaceous quality of Pinot Noir.

In Switzerland, Pinot Noir grows especially well in the canton of Graubünden (aka Grisons) and near Geneva.  

Semi-hard Swiss Cheese:

Tete de Moine – this semi-hard cheese from the Jura region looks gorgeous on a cheese plate. Cut not with a knife, but rather shaved into delicate curls with a special tool called a Girolle, it is as pretty as it is delicious. Full, aromatic, with a slight herbal hint, this goes great with a citrusy, grassy Sauvignon Blanc or Muller Thurgau.

Hard Swiss Cheese:

Gruyere – this cheese has been produced since 1115! This unpasteurized cow’s cheese is one of the ‘must haves’ for any wine and cheese soiree. It is fantastic while young and deliciously salty when aged. An authentic Swiss fondue would be nothing without Gruyere! While Chasselas is the obvious choice for fondue, young Gruyere (aka doux) pairs well with a slightly buttery and fruity Chardonnay or a juicy, bursting with berry flavor Gamay. Try an aged Gruyere with a slightly sweet Petite Arvine for a great salty and sweet combo. For something truly out of this world, try an aged Heida (also known as Savagnin) or the rare Completer varietal with an 18 month Gruyere.

Gamay, from the Beaujolais region of France, has gained a great following in French Switzerland.

Extra hard Swiss Cheese:

Sbrinz – extra hard, and extra salty, and slightly sour, this is a cheese that has an amazing texture and taste. Made in central Switzerland, this intense cheese will stand up to (and sometimes overpower) red wine. Try this with a Humagne rouge,  a Gamaret or Cabernet Franc. Humagne Rouge is also known as Cornalin d’Aoste.

Gamaret is a varietal created in the 1970s to suit the terroir of French Switzerland – which makes it almost impossible to find outside of Switzerland!

Humagne Rouge (aka Cornalin d’Aoste) is an indigenous grape varietal of Switzerland. It is now mainly planted in the Valais region.

In researching for this article I found a book that I should definitely purchase: Cheese, slices of Swiss Culture by Sue Styles. It picks out around 30 Swiss cheses that one must try, including some blue cheese like Bleuchatel. Try the few blue Swiss cheeses you can find with some Amigne. This varietal makes rich,full bodied wines (which one) that can be dry or sweet. I love a sweet wine with a blue cheese!
Amigne, another native Swiss varietal, makes a range of wines from dry to sweet. You can tell how sweet an Amigne wine is by how many bees are on the label. This was a first in Switzerland – a wine law that required winemakers to disclose the sugar content of their wines. 1 bee is dry to off dry (aka a hint of sweetness) and 3 bees is very sweet.

I also contacted Sébastien Fabbi, director of Swiss Wine Promotion, a society promoting Swiss wines abroad to share his experiences and preferences:

Would you recommend white or red wine to pair with cheese in general?

In general I recommend dry white wine. Our national Chasselas “loves” cheese in general but also hard cheeses. I love matching our cheese with Chasselas, Johannisberg, Arvine dry white wine and of course with the older vintages Chasselas or Hermitage, which goes amazing with cheese. From the red wines, I would recommend a light red wine style like Pinot Noir, Gamay, Plant Robert or even Gamaret.

What is your best Swiss cheese and wine memory?

An old cheese with an old Chasselas is for me like heaven on earth. The advantage with the old Chasselas is that it can come from any region and not only from the best known or famous region such as Dézaley.

Tip: MEDINETTE 2002 by Louis-Philippe Bovard and an old cheese ripened by Mr Dutweiler …

Your match with a cheese fondue?

With the cheese fondue I mainly recommend Chasselas / Fendant (from the Valais region). These whites are the best match. But,if you are not as infatuated by Chasselas as I am, I would then recommend a Johanisber or possibly a Sylvaner Riesling that is not too aromatic and is dry and strong.

Are you organizing joint events with Switzerland Cheese Marketing to let people experience different wine and cheese options?

We are preparing joint projects, but the most important is of course the upcoming World Expo in Milan next year.

I hope you learned something more about wine and cheese from Switzerland! If you have anything to add please let me know!

 This post also appears on the Wiine.Me Blog – you can visit me there too!

An Online Wine Academy & a selfie w/ the chef de cave of Moët et Chandon

Hi out there wine world…it has been awhile! I’m sorry about that. This year has been crazy for me so far, leaving Mövenpick Wine and joining forces with Wiine.Me! 2014 has definitely been the start of a new adventure in the wine world and in my personal life. I re-joined the some of the other Champagne ambassadors for an extremely Champagne filled week in Champagne…

Champagne Ambassadors with Jean-Hervé, president of Jacquesson.

went to the Philippines (and tasted Tuba – Filipino wine), swam with Whale Sharks, and gave away the rest of the money YOU helped me raise in December for Typhoon Haiyan (Yay! More detailed post on the later)…and took a selfie in a bathroom mirror with some friends and Benoît Gouez, the chef de cave of Moët et Chandon during the launch of the 2006 vintage in Switzerland….

Oh, hi Benoît Gouez…this 1999 Moët et Chandon is just lovely. Would you like to please jump in on our selfie in this bagnoire mirror?

I also visited one of my favorite winemakers Benjamin Leroux and a discovered a new favorite, Jerôme Galeyrand in Burgundy, had a lovely time hosting a wine tasting with Wink Lorch, author of the new Jura Wine Book, and so much more…all which I will get around to writing about.

One of the things that I’m most excited about here at Wiine.Me has been something I’ve wanted to do for years! When I moved here to Switzerland and started teaching wine courses, so many of my US based friends said that they would love to take a wine course but don’t have time. I thought…an online wine academy would be an awesome idea – so they could take the courses no matter where they were in the world. 

When Wiine.Me approached me to merge our talents they said they were interested in undertaking a similar project – but with the Wiine.Me twist. We put together a new idea…an online wine academy combined with the Wiine.Me business… 3 sommelier curated wines delivered to your home or office each month. This means that wine lovers get both the wine courses and the wines at the same time! The best way to learn about wine is to taste it, so our classes are designed around the wine selection. 

Wine Academy – Interactive videos and info-graphics to help you learn about wine!

We’ve been working with wine lovers to find out what they want from a course, wine professionals who have been in the wine industry for years, and using my experience teaching for the past 2.5 years (what?! when did that happen?!) to design courses for busy professionals who don’t have the time or the energy to commit themselves to a weekly class.

We have the information, but now we need to hire video people, graphic designers, etc. to make this dream a reality. We will have the course in 3 languages: English, German, and French and (if we have the funds) we will have interactive videos, to go along with info-graphics and regular videos.

This 6 month course will help wine lovers build a foundation on which to learn the basics of wine. The course will teach wine lovers about wine regions, different grape varietals, winemaking and even more.

Interested in finding out more? Please support us by checking out our project on Indiegogo and sharing it with your wine loving friends!

Now that things are calming down, I’ll definitely be posting more, I promise! See you soon in the blogosphere and until next time, cheers!

2014 = Big News! Wiine.Me & A Hot Toddy to celebrate!

Oh hi…remember me? Sorry for my prolonged absence! A lot of new things have been going on with me in 2014.

Why? Because – I’ve joined the fabulous team of Wiine.Me! Wiine.Me is a wine club based in Switzerland, Germany, and South Africa. I’ve been working with Wiine.Me for some months now, teaching their English wine classes and also helping to select wines. As the new Director of the Wiine.Me Wine Academy (that sounds far too fancy for me) I’ll also be creating new events and my big project will be developing a (free!) online course to help wine beginners get to wine aficionados in just a few months. I’m super excited as I get to use what I’ve learned from teaching wine classes for two years and translating that to an online education platform.

For the next few months, I’ll be working at Mövenpick, teaching my wine classes, and developing this online program at Wiine.Me. I will be leaving my position at Mövenpick at the end of March, which will be bittersweet.

Of course, three jobs means less time for blog posts, but I promise to keep up as much as possibly can! This un-scheduled break is right in the middle of my Champagne Ambassador Series which I’ll publish next week.

For now, since it’s ski season here in Switzerland check out this Hot Toddy recipe from the team over at Destinology. They are doing a guide on Cocktails of the World and their recipes look FABULOUS! I tried this Hot Toddy a few days ago (using my husband’s expensive whisky…sorry again Dave!) and its perfect for aprés ski!

Too Hot to Handle Toddy

I can’t wait to try out their Gingerbread Old Fashioned too! Until next time, Cheers!

Drink for Relief – 7,100 chf!

Quick post this week since I’m on vacation in Budapest discovering wines and Christmas markets!

A massive THANK YOU to all 100+ amazing people who came out to last Thursday’s Drink for Relief! We raised 7,100 chf in total for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. That is a whopping 4,100 chf over our goal!!!

An especially big thank you to Heritage Geneva, Mövenpick Wine & my amazing team of volunteers: Dave, Evonne, Jo, Tuuli, Peter, Jamie for providing the music, World Radio Switzerland, Know It All Passport, Le News, & Aujourd’hui (Tribune de Genève) for the promo, & Leah for the graphic design…you guys are fabulous and I could not have done it without you!

I will keep you updated on what projects your donations are going to and thank you all so much!

European Champagne Ambassador Awards Week

First, THANK YOU FOR HELPING US RAISE OUR GOAL OF 3,000 chf for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. I’m so amazed at how generous everyone has been and I can’t wait for Drink for Relief: a Night of Champagne & Wine on 12 December. I hope we can far exceed our goal!

Second, another thank you! Thank you all so much for your support during the Champagne Ambassador Awards! I received such lovely comments, emails, tweets, and messages on the WWK Facebook page. Its amazing to think that just two years ago I started my wine journey here in Europe. To have come so far in this amount of time has made me truly thankful for everyone I’ve met at through working at Mövenpick Cellars, at different conferences, tastings, wine classes, travel, and especially my students. I would not be here if not for all of you, so from the bottom of my heart…THANK YOU!!!!

This is the first post in a series about my experience during the Champagne Ambassador Awards. I hope you enjoy!

What are the Champagne Ambassador Awards? 

Back in 2005, the Comité Interprofessional de Vins du Champagne – aka the CIVC – created an award ‘designed to honour the professionals who contribute to improving knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the diversity of Champagne wines…” The CIVC is the trade association that represents both Champagne producers and Champagne houses and promotes and protects the name of Champagne, loosely the CIVC acts as the ‘brand manager’ of Champagne. This competition is open to 9 countries in Europe. Each country has an application process open from April to July with the national finalists of each country chosen in the summer, with the national finals held the following September. Read more about my experience in the Swiss final here. 

Each Champagne Ambassador of their respective country gets an amazing prize, yes Champagne, but also a ridiculously fabulous and educational week in Champagne with the other Champagne ambassadors. I met the most amazing group of people and had experiences that I never thought possible. It was really the week of a lifetime. We all remarked during the week that our experience was the true prize of the competition!

What does a Champagne Ambassador do? 

It all depends on the person! I think a Champagne Ambassador helps educate the public about how amazing and versatile Champagne is by leading tastings and events. For instance, I had a lovely time answering listener questions with Jaimie & Mark on WRS. You can listen to the WRS Butcher’s Breakfast interview here.  I’ve also been continuing with my wine courses, events, and tastings for my clients and using the award to raise money for funds for Typhoon relief.

I also get invited to events like the launch of the new Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque 2006 in Switzerland, I went on a press trip to visit Krug, reporters ask me for an expert opinion on Champagne, and I taste a lot of Champagne. Its a fabulous life but no, I don’t get paid for it. I do get lots of benefits, though, like tasting lovely Champagne and meeting great people! I will do a write up on each event, I promise!

In the new year, I’m also going to start organizing a Salon de Champagnes here in Geneva and also start focusing on writing wine law articles.

Here is a quick clip about our week in Champagne (ignore my not so great French accent). I could never be famous because having a cameraman follow us around the whole time was a bit odd and as you’ll see I’m a bit of a nut around the camera!

Champagne & Wine Tasting Benefit for the Victims of Typhoon Haiyan

We here at WWK are committed to helping the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.  We’ve raised over 2,000 chf in two weeks!

Want to do your part?  Join Kat Morse, Swiss Champagne Ambassador 2013, for a night of Champagne and wine tasting at Heritage Geneva, a great art gallery in Old Town Geneva, steps from the Cathedral.

On 12 December from 18:00 – 21:00 come taste some lovely wines & Champagnes with the Champagne Ambassador, nosh on some nibbles, listen to live music, and know you are doing it for a great cause! 

Tickets can be purchased at the door for 40 chf, or online in advance for only 35 chf!

For more information and to buy advance tickets, click here!

100% of all profits will go directly to help those afflicted by this terrible storm.  Thank you for your support! 

Upcoming Wine Events in Geneva

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

We’ve raised half our goal in under a week – 1,555 chf! I hope to keep up the momentum by doing even more events, like these events this weekend:

Barkavin: Thursday 21 and Friday 22 November

Sixteen Geneva wine producers will be showing their wines and spirits on a boat docked near the Jardin Anglais in Geneva. This event is held indoors so no worries if it snows! From18:00 – 21:00. For more information, check out the Barkavin website. 

Cost: 20 chf

Champagne Tasting to benefit the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan: 25 November

Join me for a tasting of 8 different Champagne at Oleo Wine and Art from 19:00 – 21:00. Try some Pol Roger (the same Champagne served at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!) and discover some different grower Champagnes. Part of the proceeds will benefit the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Hope to see you there!

Cost: 25 chf

Location: Oleo Wine and Art – Route de Meyrin 23, Geneva, Switzerland

Champagne & Christmas Wines Tasting with Axel Votre Sommelier

Taste both the big houses and small grower Champagnes at this special Champagne tasting with Axel, last year’s Champagne Ambassador! Find out more here.

Cost: 50 chf

Location: Hotel Metropole

Hope to see you at some of these events (if you are in Geneva)  and don’t forget to join the raffle to win a 12 person tasting! 

Wine Tasting Raffle for victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan

It is with a heavy heart that I return to you, my lovely blog followers. I’ve had an amazing Autumn so far by winning the Swiss Champagne Ambassador Award, attending the annual International Wine Law Association in Vienna, getting to spend a fabulous week in Champagne with the other Champagne Ambassadors of their respective countries, and the perks that come with the title. I promise to write all about it soon.

My country, however, hasn’t been so lucky. As I am sure many of you know, one the most destructive storms in history, Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda ripped through the Philippines. There are hundreds of thousands of people homeless and an estimated death toll of 10,000. Tacloban, the city at the epicenter of the crisis, is 45 minutes away from where my dad grew up. Luckily, my family is OK, but others have not been so lucky.

My other country, the United States, has already pledged 20 million dollars(!) and I need to do my part as well. Therefore, I’ve decided that until January 1st, 25% of all profit from my classes, tastings, and events will go to the Red Cross – Philippines.

I’m also holding a WINE TASTING FUNDRAISER! For 5 CHF per ticket you’ll be entered into a raffle to win a 2 hour wine class with a theme of your choosing to take place after January 1st. I’ll bring all the glasses, 6 – 8 wines, aroma wheels, and everything you need for up to 12 people (value of 1200 CHF). 100% of the profit will go directly to the Red Cross – Philippines. I will pull the winner on 3 January 2014. GOOD LUCK!!! 

Here’s how to enter:
1. At any of my wine tastings, events, and/or classes (for instance, this weekend at Mövenpick Cellars we’re having a British Cheese and wine tasting, come join!). I put all the Geneva area wine tasting events on the WWK Facebook page.

2. Bank transfer of 5 CHF/per entry – email me at winewithkat@gmail.com when you make the transfer
Name: Rachel Morse
Bank: Postfinance
IBAN: CH42 0900 0000 3034 4992 2
Account: 30-344992-2
ID: 110 064 213 603

3. Come find me at Mövepick Cellars in Meyrin on Thursdays, Fridays, and/or Saturdays. Taste some wine for a good cause 🙂

4. Contact me at winewithkat@gmail.com

5. Donate with Paypal

Due to the increased cost of international travel, the class will have to be held in the Geneva, Switzerland area. 🙂 However, if you’re not in the area, please consider donating to the Red Cross – Philippines or any of these fabulous charities.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this post…please spread the love! Look out for future posts about wine law, my dream week in Champagne and Champagne Ambassador Awards, the Perrier-Jouët 2006 launch, and my press trip to Krug.

Questions & Answers: What is Wine Law?

One of the myriad of reasons* that I’ve spent the last three years in Europe is to gain experience in the European wine industry and study wine law. So, as so many people have asked in the past…what exactly is wine law?

Wine law is, in a nutshell, the regulations on the different steps in producing wine, selling wine, protecting the producers and consumers, the industry, the wine region, etc. These laws transcend many different areas of law including but not limited to international trade agreements, contract law, intellectual property, federal and state law (in the US), agency law, EU and country specific law, and so much more. 

One of my favorite wine law bloggers, Lindsay of On Reserve writes extensively on the topic of wine law in the U.S. Check out her description of wine law here. Another great resource for U.S. wine law is Richard Mendelson’s book – Wine in America: Law and Policy.

So, do you want a few examples? There were rumors before the new iPhone came out that it would be ‘Champagne’ colored. If that were to have happened, the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne would have stepped in to protect the reputation and patrimony of the name Champagne and those who make their living producing it. Determination of legal drinking age, appellation based laws (AOCs in France, DOCs in Italy) like what varietals can grow in which regions, and direct shipping of wines (I’m looking at you Massachusetts – how am I going to get my French wine when we move?!).

For instance, this is a potential trademark infringement as Veuve Clicquot has trademarked this specific color.

Wine law is also one of the reasons I haven’t been very active blogging lately – I’ve been reading up on wine law to prepare for this weekend’s International Wine Law Association’s annual conference in Vienna! I’m really excited to learn more about wine law, especially regarding Geographical Indications and advertising in wine.

I’ve also been preparing for the European Champagne Ambassador’s Award…as I have about 8 hours of downtime in Geneva before I leave for my week in Champagne! I’ll be representing Switzerland at the international finals (YAY!) and as part of the experience all the finalists get to learn from and visit many Champagne producers, tour the vineyards, and have lovely meals. I’m SO excited!

Of course, I’ll be writing about my experience extensively in the next few weeks. Thus, in addition to my wine law books I’m also bringing these books:

Good thing I’m a light packer! I’m super excited for the upcoming few weeks – Champagne and wine law…what could be better?!

*Also…easy access to amazing wine & wine regions, the cheese, the skiing, the cows etc.