Cave de Rois / Marco & François Grognuz, Lavaux (St. Saphorin, Vaud, Switzerland) Syrah 2015

 This was the best red wine I tasted on my recent trip to Switzerland, and that’s saying something, because I tasted a bunch of very good ones.  Aged entirely in new oak, it shows beautiful, deep color and is impressively concentrated, and yet the wine impresses much more with finesse than power.  Its primary attraction is gorgeous flora aromas recalling freshly picked violets, but the fruit component is complex and convincing also, with distinct notes of red, black and even blue fruit tones.  The first vintage of this was 1986, and back then, the family needed an exception from the appellation authorities even to plant Syrah.  Brilliant, stylish stuff.