For a few years now, Gildas L Hostis, EHL Senior Lecturer in Oenology (the knowledge of wine, wine service, production, economics and tasting), has been trying out new tools enabling students to express themselves more freely and creatively. The synesthetic approach is a method that shuns traditional analytical wine tasting along with the ubiquitous wine tasting ‘grid’, replacing it with a more imaginative practice that summons up many of the senses. Here, students are encouraged to practice wine pairing by creating matches with specific paintings.
For two decades, Swiss wines have occasionally created a buzz. In 2007, a tasting of the best Syrahs in the world, organized by the Grand Jury Européen, surprisingly placed Swiss wines at the top. Then, in the same year, Bettane et Desseauve awarded the prize for the best foreign wine (non-French) to a Cornalin from Valais. These premises of notoriety were reinforced through articles in various foreign media.