Holiday wine and spirits

Baccarat sparkling wines produced by the Cave de Genève have won a passel of gold medals in international competitions like ‘Chardonnay du Monde’ in Burgundy. Brut Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay, and Brut Rosé Prestige, both retail for CHF 13.90 a bottle and are available among other places at Coop. More at www.cavedegeneve.ch

The Bader family in Lauwil (Basel Land) has been receiving the highest marks for its single malts, which run 78 or 95 francs a bottle. Check this out at www.swiss-whisky.ch; you can order directly from them.

How about Swiss vodka? Zug-based Ed McGaugh sent us this:

“A newcomer has entered the premium vodka competition…Xellent… the SWISS vodka comes in a bulky red art-deco styled bottle. When I finally found a bottle on the shelves of my favorite booze purveyor, I had to check my wallet to see if I could endure the whopping nearly 50 franc hit this bottle of vodka was going to set me back. Luckily I had a shiny new 50 franc bank-note ready to spring into action! ‘Ok, let’s see what the Swiss call vodka’ I thought, as my fingers wrapped around the neck of the chunky little bottle. I placed it gently in the basket of my trolley, being careful not to scratch it, and in a few moments we were homeward bound.

I wasn‘t really sure what to expect from this Swiss interloper, it might be something created for the après ski crowd in Gstaad or St. Moritz… It might be 99% hype with a nose-bleed price tag… I might be disappointed…I was wrong, Xellent is good, in fact it is very, very good. Xellent is triple distilled, by hand, in small batches, in a copper still. The rye grain is locally grown in two hectare fields, the water is from a Swiss glacier, and Xellent is as smooth as glass but also thick and rich. It can run nose to nose with any of the best Russian and Polish vodkas. Xellent is a real power vodka! The Swiss have arrived on the vodka scene and they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”

More at www.xellent.ch; they list stores nationwide that carry the brand.