Wine travels in Italian, French and Spanish

Well, I've had the most interesting wine month in January and I thought I'd take you along with me through some of the wines of the "old world" this month.
I was on business in Switzerland so left Italy via the Gottardo and travelled to Luzern where I drank some very good Italian wines (yes I know the Swiss produce wine, that's coming later), from very far south, Sicily to be precise, at a great restaurant called the Rebstock. A four hundred year old, timbered building in the old part of the beautiful city of Luzern.
The evening went like this:
Arrived, lovely chatty ambiance.
Checked out the wine list, saw Sicilia-Tasca d' Almerita-Regaleali wines on the small wine list.
Ordered the food I saw arriving at someone elses table. (I do this often; choose my meal by the aromas coming from someone's arriving food).
The food: A delicious Pie with wild mushrooms, light mousse dumplings and veal cooked in Barolo, and surrounded by steamed assortment of crisp vegetables. The smell was divine.
The first wine: Regaleali Bianco 2005
This wine went so well with the creamy, meaty flavours of the meat pie and vegetables.
It's buttery but slightly acidic with gooseberry flavors and I loved it. So I thought I'd have the fabled Regaleali Nero d'avola to follow, which I finished off with dessert of the richest, fattest piece of homemade chocolate cake I've seen so far.
Visit the estate that re-defined Sicilian wines, innovative, brilliant. (disclaimer: visiting this site may bring on a strong desire to escape to that sun-drenched island with azure seas).
Both these wines are produced on sun-drenched estates in the province of Palermo Sicily, with perfect cooling sea breeze conditions for excellent Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, Malvasia and tanin-rich Cabernet Sauvignon, and they never disappoint. "The golden wine of volcanoes, and its flavour lingers on your tongue till evening" Guy de Maupassant .... just like the really fine Chardonnay/Grillo blend they produce further south in Sicily, great for lunch on a Sunday with roast chicken. I drank a glass of this with a friend in Lugano before departing on my trip.


The next day I had to rise early and get a train to French speaking Geneva, where two wine fanatics/experts Wink and Brett, had invited me for lunch. Since they both live in France and use Geneva airport as their local hub to London, we found that to be the best meeting-point.
They led me through the airport to a new restaurant tucked away upstairs. The elegant Altitude restaurant was an apt setting to meet, as the wine list and menu where both extensive and Elegantly French and the setting refined.
I put myself in the hands of area expertise, as Wink of Winetravelguides.com ordered a white wine beloved by her family, that I would never have stumbled across in ten life-times, Aigle les Murailles appellation d'origine controlle grand vin.
The courses that came to our table while we talked wine, were wonderfully presented and this clean, fresh wine, from which I got notes of asparagus and grass, complimented the food beautifully.
The wine label with a green newt on it, was charming and my hosts kindly had it removed to take away with me.
My choice: First, ravioli stuffed with wild mushrooms in a delicious light truffle froth which simply melted in the mouth.

Followed by lamb cutlets cooked to pink perfection as all French chefs insist is must be, with a little side dish of light-as-air mashed potatoes.
The finale was a fresh mango and passion fruit creation that was simply superb.

Both on a schedule, them to fly and me to ride, I travelled back to Zurich by train though the scenic route along the lake via Lausanne and then on to Bern, first class. Gazing out of the window in first-class silence, I was enjoying the lake area, for it's pretty sunny stone-terraced vineyards tumbling down to what the Swiss call a See.


The finale to the trip was in a little wine bar in Lugano back in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland where in summer we rent a lakehouse near to the border with Como our home.
A friend took me to a Spanish wine bar in Lugano for an after-work drink. The tiny winebar seating twelve at a squeeze, sells and serves only Spanish wines.
The charming proprieter choose two reds for me on the encouragement of my friend.

The first: Piedra Lazar Tempranillo from Ribera Del Duero, light and smooth and pleasant with the small tapas fish dishes served to us.
The second: higher in alcohol, complex and full of tannins Finca los Nevados Tempranillo/ Petit Verdot - la Mancha.
Both served with tapas of chick pea, fish and bread.
A fitting end to a weekend steeped in local culture, food and wine in the multi-lingual Europe in which I live.
Please leave any comments of appreciation or questions about the wines below.