Chateau d’Auvernier, Chasselas 2008 (Neuchâtel, Switzerland), $25, 11.5% abv

Finding unusual wines that are affordably priced on a wine list is one of life’s joys. On a recent weeknight visit to Artisanal, I tried a white wine from Switzerland made from the Chasselas grape. Made by Chateau d'Auvenier in the Neuchâtel region of Switzerland (Neuchâtel is in Western Switzerland just over the border from France's (and Switzerland's) Jura region).

Let me just stop and say that I love that they offer about 100 wines by the glass at the restaurant, both as a taste or a glass. France dominates the by-the-glass wine list followed by the United States, but Italy and Spain gets their own section too. There are also southern hemisphere wines so you can get your Australia/Chile/Argentina fix as well. There’s a bottle list beyond that including a good selection of half bottles, but with so many by-the-glass options (and I find turnover to be fast enough that I’ve not had a dead wine yet), I haven’t had a reason to commit to a full bottle.

Back to the wine. Chasselas (aka Fendant in the Valais region of Switzerland) is grown in France and Germany with some distaste, but the grape has found a home in Switzerland where it is the most planted grape variety.

This wine showed medium intensity aromas of ripe lemons, grapefruit peel, stones, and something of a Alpine mountain floral-ness. It seemed to have a little more weight in the mouth than the alcohol would suggest, and the medium amount of juicy acidity mingled with lemon and a slight amount of pine flavors. It was a little too light to be a perfect match for the Duck Bourguignon I ordered, but this was a case of matching a unique wine to the person, not the dish. I’d like to serve this as an aperitif or a picnic wine on a hot summer day.