Basel Prepares for the 543Rd Herbstmesse
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Make the Most of Your Happy (and Horrific!) Intimate Concerts at Skaters Take to the Visit to the Basler Halloween Happenings the Baloise Session Ice with the Start Weinmesse of Hockey Season Volume 2 Issue 2 CHF5 MAGAZINE A Family Guide to Discovering Basel for the Expat Community OCTOBER 2013 Cool Air. Hot Fair. Basel prepares for the 543rd Herbstmesse EVENTS T R A D I T I O N S LIVING O U T I N G S FEATURE EVENT LETTER FROM THE EDITOR The Basler Weinmesse (Basel Wine Fair) October 26 – November 3 Dear Readers, The 40th Basler Weinmesse is one of the most important wine fairs in MAGAZINE Autumn is such an exciting time in Basel, bringing with it crisp air Switzerland, and for many Baslers one of the highlights of the year. It takes place OCTOBER 2013 Volume 2 • Issue 2 and a diverse selection of fairs! The countdown is on for the Basler for nine days each autumn, in parallel with the Basel Herbstmesse (Autumn Fair). Herbstmesse, with its rides, wares, food, fun, and hundreds of years From the simply curious to wine lovers and those who work in the restaurant and hotel TABLE OF CONTENTS of tradition. In this issue of Basel Family Magazine you’ll find industry, tens of thousands visit the Weinmesse each year. It is a great opportunity for everything you need to know about visiting the Herbstmesse, as people to come together in a smoke-free environment and discover, taste, compare, Feature Event: The Basler Weinmesse 3well as a brief review of its history. Also read about Basel’s phenom- talk about, learn about, and even order wine. There are also glasses and specialized enal Weinmesse and how to make the most of your visit, and dis- cover what the gourmet world has to offer at the Basler Feinmesse. books on wine for sale. Events in Basel: October 4-6 During the Weinmesse, merchants, producers, and suppliers from the world’s major The month of October also greets us with a number of new museum exhibits, several circus shows, an art show (CULTURE- wine-growing regions, including Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, South Africa, and Did You Know? 6 SCAPES), a book fair (BuchBasel), children’s theater, the ever-popular Austria, as well as from new and more unfamiliar wine regions, come and make their Rudolf Steiner Schule flea market, the wonderful tradition of conker wines available for the public to taste and buy. This year’s guest region will be the collecting (Keschtenedaag), loads of activities in Basel’s parks to Spanish wine-growing district of Rioja. However, with over 5,000 wines to try from Fun Family Outings: Beyond Basel 7 keep the children busy during the school autumn break, and you all regions of the world, presented by over 120 vendors, it can also be a rather over- can discover some of the ways you can mark Halloween in this part whelming experience. It is therefore good to have a plan or strategy to make the most of the world. Markets and Fairs in Basel: Herbstmesse! 8-9 of your visit, and the Weinmesse catalogue can be a great help. There’s also much going on in the realm of sports. The skating rinks open this month, offering skating classes and ice-hockey for adults that they have a greater likelihood of medalling. Vendors with Basel Traditions: The History of the Herbstmesse 10-11 and kids. The Basel Sharks, Basel’s professional hockey team, have The Catalogue a wine list that is well striped with yellow and silver highlights started their season, and Basel’s football club, the FCB, has two Included in your entrance fee will be the will normally attract more visitors than lists with no highlights. home games in October. The Swiss Indoors tennis tournament will catalogue of this year’s Weinmesse that lists Center Calendar: October 2013 12-13 bring some of the world’s best tennis pros into town. If you want But bear in mind that while wines with gold or silver status to enjoy the autumn colors at their best, try our suggested walking all of the wines, organized alphabetically by are typically very good, those that have no medal status may excursion in the heights above Basel. vendor. It is well worth taking a few minutes simply not have been submitted for judging, and may there- Sports and Recreation 14-15 to plan what you want to taste, so that you fore be hidden jewels waiting to be discovered, so don’t be Choose from loads of workshops and English-language tours, don’t end up lost in the sea of bottles that afraid to explore! as well as an abundance of dance, English-language theatre, lie ahead! Each vendor will list their wines, Get Going!: Hiking the Wanderwege 16 comedy, wine-tastings, concerts, and shows. Check out the either by region or style, and will also indicate impressive line-up of concerts of the Baloise Session or watch the How to Go About Tasting at the Fair Chippendale dancers strut their stuff at the Stadt-Casino. And the year of production, the price, the vintner, the country, and Workshops, Tours, and Education 17-19 finally, don’t forget to make your clocks “fall back” for the end the region where it was produced. This can help you narrow It is ideal if you can manage several visits to the wine fair and of Daylight Savings Time on October 27! down your search if you are planning to taste and compare a divide up your wine tastings accordingly; perhaps at one visit particular type of wine (for example only Argentinian Malbecs) you focus on red wines, another on white, or sweet, or sparkling. Entertainment: Parents’ Night Out 20-23 Wishing you a golden October! or simply want to target a wine merchant with a big selection of If this isn’t possible, try to follow these simple rules for tasting: different wines to choose from, such as Paul Ullrich, Mövenpick Always taste white wine before red, light before heavy, cheap Ticket Office: Get Your Tickets Now! 21 Christine Weinkeller, or Hahn-Rickli. before expensive, unoaked before oaked, dry before sweet, and Christine Pesold fortified at the end. Between each wine, and certainly between Editor-in-Chief La Sélection each wine style, try to eat a small piece of bread or take a sip of Mark Your Calendar: November 2013 Back Page [email protected] water to cleanse your palate. Each year, some of the wines are also entered in a kind of competition. For this, a panel of around 40 wine experts is Tips for Ordering Basel Family Magazine Contacts: assembled to taste and judge the wines and award medals to Editor-in-Chief: COVER: Petersplatz with its many the best ones. Only about 15% of the 5,000 wines are submit- If you decide to place an order at the fair, keep in mind that Christine Pesold stalls selling all kinds of unique crafts ted for judging and thereby have the potential to gain medal delivery charges are usually extra. If you order from a local from around the world as well as a status. These wines undergo a “blind” evaluation and are giv- vendor, you may opt to pick up your order and avoid delivery Advertising & Subscription variety of delicious foods represents the en a rating on a 100-point scale for several criteria, including fees; this is of course less practical when ordering from vendors Manager / Editor: Susanne Hiller “quieter side” of the Herbstmesse. A fruitiness, weight, harmony, finish, and authenticity of style. located in distant cantons. Be sure to check the fine print at particular highlight is the nostalgic two- Based on the score that the wines receive, they can be awarded a the bottom of each vendor’s page, which describes discounts on Art Director: story carousel, or “Ressliryti,” that is “Médaille D’Or” (gold medal), “Médaille D’Argent” (silver med- wine or delivery for orders placed above a particular purchase Jon Hoefer located directly in the center of the al), or no medal at all. You can identify the award-winning wines price or number of bottles ordered. For more information about square and whose design dates back to as you flip through the pages of the catalogue—the gold medal www.baslerweinmesse.ch winners are highlighted in yellow and the silver medal winners subscribing or advertising – 1910. So why not take a ride that doesn’t please contact us: are highlighted in grey. leave you nauseous and with wobbly Practical Information [email protected] legs like many of the modern rides? Additionally, from all the wines submitted for judging, one www.baselfamilymagazine.com Sélection de L’Année (wine of the year) each is chosen amongst Dates: October 26-November 3 the white and red wines. These two wines are presented in Where: Halle 4, Messe Basel BASEL FAMILY MAGAZINE © Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. It is our goal to provide valuable, timely information to the expat community of Basel. detail at the start of the catalogue, followed by the list of the gold The opinions expressed in the articles in this magazine are those of the contributing authors and do not reflect those of other members of the editorial and silver medal winners, organized alphabetically by country Hours: Monday-Saturday: 15:00-21:00 staff and of any organizations or agencies distributing this magazine. Though we make every attempt to provide accurate information, we cannot be of origin. Sunday: 12:00-19:00 held responsible if any event is cancelled, postponed, or modified.