Gamay Vieilles Vignes, Abbaye de Mont, Mont-sur-Rolle 2013, Ville de Lausanne Vieilles vignes means old vines, well, how old? You may ask. In this case between twenty to thirty years. Vines can continue to produce winemaking grapes for about 200 years. The older the vine, the better the wine. But the older the vines, the smaller […]
Still Life; Whiplash; Yalom’s Cure
We’re in luck in this brand new year of 2015 – fine films coming out in droves, with the three below a taste of some of the best. One gentle, the second electrifying and the third a Zen experience. Get to the movies and enjoy great cinema! Still Life (Une belle fin) **** This is […]
Payot’s best sellers of the week
Voted “Book of the Year” by UK bookseller, Waterstones, The Miniaturist, published by Picador, is the highly acclaimed debut novel by Jessie Burton. Set in 1686 in Amsterdam, the book tells the story of 18-year-old Nella Oortman who arrives at the grand house of her new husband, the wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt. The marriage is […]
Tips for a bloating-free Christmas!
It’s party season again! Christmas is the most magical and enjoyable time of the year! But the glum downside is gaining a bit of weight. Still, there is no reason why good health and good times have to roll in opposite directions. Get the formula right and let the good times, and good health, come […]
Old wives’ tales
Well, it’s cold and flu’ season again. That time of year when Old Wives’ Tales get hauled out of storage and tossed into almost every conversation: got the sniffles? Well, you need to eat a kilo of raw garlic / soak your feet in a mustard bath / rub a banana skin on your head […]
Payot’s best sellers of the week
World Order by Henry Kissinger and published by Penguin is described as “the summation of Henry Kissinger’s thinking about history, strategy and statecraft. Now 91, Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, has never lacked a strategy. However, his thoughtful new book aims not so much to advocate specific policies as to portray the shape […]
Mr. Turner; Coming Home
Mr. Turner *** Character-actor Timothy Spall won the best acting trophy at Cannes and at the European Film awards for his portrayal of the English painter William Turner. It is well known that the esteemed British director Mike Leigh has an unorthodox method of making films – there is no script, just an idea of […]
Gamaret Meylan 2012
Gamaret Meylan 2012 Veering away from Valais towards Ollon this time. Ollon is situated at the foot of the mountains on the southeast end of Lake Leman near Aigle. Gamaret, à la mode for quite a few years now, is a red wine grape variety created at the Station Fédérale de Recherches en Production Végétale […]
Payot’s best sellers of the week
Long-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize, Siri Hustvedt’s The Blazing World has been publicised across the US as her best novel yet. Publisher, Simon & Schuster describes it as “a masterful novel about perception, prejudice, desire, and one woman’s struggle to be seen”. Certainly it is a provocative story. Artist Harriet Burden, who, after […]
Of Horses and Men; Timbuktu
Of Horses and Men **** (vo Icelandic) We are back in the Northern climes (after the brilliant Norwegian Refroidis/Kraftidioten), this time in Iceland, where at times they come up with superb cinema – mostly of the poker-faced, comedic style at which they excel. How can one describe this one by the talented first-time director Benedikt […]