Welcoming

When you’re in this sun-drenched part of Switzerland, drinking an aperitivo, gazing at the picturesque stone facades and listening to the rustling leaves of the chestnut trees in the breeze you feel as though you’re a long way from the cares of the world. All you need here is time to sit back, relax and enjoy. Ticino, with its magical beauty, has so much to offer: poetic landscapes, stunning architecture, and lots of great food and wine. From gourmet restaurants to casual osterie, cucina Ticinese is prepared and served with skill and care. Around the granite tables of the grotti (traditional inns that were once storage caves for cured meats and aged cheeses) with the locals you’ll find yourself experiencing typical Ticino joie de vivre.

Winning wines

Ticino and Merlot are natural partners. This happy pairing happened about a hundred years ago. Phylloxera infection had ravaged the vineyards as it had in most of Europe, and winemakers faced ruin. From Bordeaux they introduced phylloxeraimmune Merlot vines, which immediately thrived in the climate and soil of Ticino, and soon delivered elegant, ruby-red wines. Nowadays Merlot accounts for 82 percent of Ticino’s 1,000- plus hectares of vineyards, and the grape variety has become almost synonymous with Ticino wine. Merlots from Ticino are also gaining in reputation abroad: a new generation of innovative winemakers is producing barrel-aged wines that are scooping up prizes at international exhibitions, rivalling some of the best growths of their native Bordeaux.

The taste of Ticino

If forced to choose between breathing and eating, a Ticinese would opt for the latter. Here lunch and dinner are sacred; natives approach them with a mixture of pleasure and reverence, typically ordering a traditional dish such as risotto or polenta, served with rabbit or brasato (braised beef). The method of preparation is usually derived from the cuisine of neighbouring Lombardy; and in Ticino, the rule is often the simpler, the better. A good tip is simply to order one of the dishes on the chalkboard menu: luganighe (sausages), costine (ribs) with cazzöla (vegetable stew) or pesce in carpione (tangy marinated fish, usually whitebait or sardines).