Wine?
It was part of every meal in our family, even at lunchtime – which was usually followed by a nap! My affinity to wine started at a young age. Although it was mainly Chianti from a fiasco bottle that was on the table, I will never forget one day: My Non (grandfather) asked me to go down to the cellar to get some wine. I grabbed a bottle, that was slumbering there all alone, a 1988 Bricco dell’Uccellone! Fortunately, from time to time my grandparents were given such gems as these as gifts! Enjoying wines like this unlocked a completely new dimension of taste for me.
Growing up in Engadine, with an Italian grandmother, wine and pleasure was basically flowing in my veins. Even as a child, I liked to look over my Nona’s (grandmother) shoulder while she was cooking. She came to the Engadine as a young woman and brought culinary delights from the Valtellina region with her. The wonderful combination of Italian and the local Bündner cuisine is pure soul food for me! The love of food brought me to cooking, which is one of my big passions.
My taste in wine developed further during my apprenticeship at a hotel. It may be no surprise that my first encounter with Champagne took place in the world-famous “champagne climate” of St. Moritz. The first sips were from a bottle of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, which happily a guest hadn’t finished drinking. There are worse things in life! A bottle of Château Lafite-Rothschild, which I was allowed to choose from the wine cellar for my apprenticeship graduation, was another encounter with great wine. Unfortunately, I can no longer remember the vintage, as in my youthful enthusiasm, the celebration continued long after opening the Lafite!
After more than 15 years in the hotel and restaurant business, with postings in Vail/USA, in Gstaad and finally in Zurich, I changed my career path. A job in a French communications agency in 2003 transported me directly into the world of wine. After a short time as project manager, I took over the management of Sopexa Switzerland. The agency implemented communication measures and marketing strategies on behalf of French wine associations. During this time, I was able to build a solid network in the wine industry.
The desire to deepen my wine knowledge quickly awoke. As I worked for the Bordeaux Wine Association and travelled to the region several times, I trained to become an International Bordeaux Wine Educator. I immediately fell in love with the city and its wines. In 2007, I started the Weinakademiker/WSET Diploma in Wine in Spirits (Level 4), which I successfully completed in 2011. A wine-making course at a winery in the Swiss wine region Bündner Herrschaft rounded off my wine knowledge. In 2008 I founded my own company Miriam Grischott – Wine Realtions and started being my own boss. “Wine Relations” refers to the relationships and diverse activities I have been involved in here over the years.
