Merlot M

JP has already brought in a few vintages, so that routine could well emerge. Not so with Pellegrin. Four years ago, we were sitting comfortably in Lucerne's famous Brasserie Bodu, poring over their wine list, when Jean-Pierre said as if shot from a cannon: "Il faut que je goûte le Pontet-Canet 2011." Of course I agreed, because this is a great wine and Luca's price was very reasonable. Jean-Pierre happily talked about the stage he took with the Tesseron family at Pontet-Canet at the tender age of 55 and all the things he learned. Passion takes on a whole new meaning, doesn't it, when someone still wants to learn something at the age of 55, like JP! "My wines will get much better, you'll see," said Pellegrin after we had tasted the wine. This wine here, his M, his Merlot, is certainly one of the hottest you will find from this grape variety grown in Switzerland. Somehow Bordeaux-like, you could say!