In our series of interviews with expatriates who live in Vaud, here is an interview with George Unc, a masters student at the Ecole du Vin (wine school) in Changins near Nyon. Read on to find out his thoughts on what makes a good wine and his favourite Swiss wine producers, as well as his tips for travelling around the country as a student and the places he likes to visit in Switzerland. Interview by Rachel Beacher. Rachel is a British journalist and lives in Lausanne. Can science help to create the perfect wine? George Unc thinks so. The Romanian-Canadian-American student is a masters student in winemaking, based at Changins. He came to Nyon after working for a series of New World vineyards and wineries, in the USA and Australia. He is now nearly halfway through an 18-month Master of Life Science, Specialisation in Viticulture and Enology. Photo above - George Unc with a glass of Swiss Chasselas wine, down by the lakeside in Nyon Living in Nyon asked him, is wine-making an art or a science? “In my mind, winemaking is the perfect balance of science, anecdotal experience and quite a bit of intuition. At its core, winemaking is an agricultural pursuit, involving the farming of the grape crop and then the transformation of the grape into delicious wine through the help of microorganisms. Simple. To make wine is not difficult, to make quality wine that will be appreciated for many years is not as simple. “Science can help with this. It is a useful tool that can assist by providing a framework for winemakers to understand their viticulture and winemaking processes. We now know a lot about terroir - soil, climate, plant, other environmental interactions - of the grape, plant biology, chemical and biochemical processes in the fermentation and ageing of wine, and much more. All thanks to science. This can provide a peace of mind that one is making the "right" choices, validated by experimentation and research. “But, science can only go so far. It would be foolish to take such a reductionist approach to wine because wine is such a complex, delicate system where every part forms a harmony. Here is where intuition and anecdotal evidence takes over. A deep understanding of your vineyard, winery and your environment are integral. Where you need time to build an intimate relationship with your craft in your specific environment. These nuances are where the best wine is made. George's course is a joint venture through Changins and HES-SO (Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale). George, the son of two Romanian academics, one a professor of soil science and the other, economics and accounting, accidentally fell into the wine industry while studying an undergraduate degree in microbiology at New Mexico State University. He had planned to study medicine, but decided it was not for him, so he took a year off to go to work in Sonoma, California, on a small family-owned vineyard. “I loved the experience,” he explained. “When I finished my degree I pursued more wine-making in Oregon in the Willamette Valley appellation.” He then worked in Western Australia, Texas and New Mexico before moving to Nyon with his wife, Emma, a political science, English and Msc of Education graduate who is currently interning at the European Public Law Organisation in Geneva. The idea of living Switzerland attracted them both immediately. Photo above - Geneva as seen from the RTS TV building “My outlook before coming here was that there would be a good quality of life, fresh air, good food, mountains,” he explained. “We thought the Geneva area was a powerhouse for international relations and science.” Photo above - The Jet d'Eau in Geneva Once here, they settling into student housing provided by Changins and have been enjoying exploring the country. “We each have a GA travel card which allows us to gallivant all over Switzerland by train, bus or boat. It is not terribly expensive for a student – about CHF 240 a month. Favourite places to visit “Our favourite places are Lake Léman and Geneva, especially museums such as Patek Phillipe, and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. We saw an Annie Leibovitz exhibition in Zurich. “I love the cantons. They have their own spirit and personality. I really like Zurich, it has a lot of character, and Spiez and the Jura for hiking.” A perfect day out was spent by George and Emma at Vevey, visiting the Nestlé food museum, then walking along the lake to Montreux and its casinos, then on to Château Chillon. Photo above - The vineyards of Lavaux Photo above - The lakeside in Vevey Venues they like include La Parenthèse in Nyon and No Name club in Lausanne. “We don't eat out a lot because of the prices but we like Tartines + co in Nyon. They have a pretty good burger for 18 francs.” George has been enjoying discovering Swiss wines and recommends Vaudois producers La Bâtie and Les Frères Dutruy from Founex and merlots from the Ticino region. “I have grown very fond of Chasselas,” he said. “I am surprised by the grape.” Photo above - The Ticino Finally, Living in Nyon asked what makes a good wine to a scientist. “From a quantitative, objective perspective a good wine is one that has balance in parameters such as pH, acid content, alcohol, phenolic content and flavour compounds and exhibits stability for ageing. Also, a wine free of faults such as cork taint; acetic acid in excess; H2S, which gives an odour of rotten eggs; acrid acetaldehyde; and all other perpetrators denotes a good wine. “Most of these parameters are simple quality control measures for overall product quality but do not predict or ensure a delicious, magical wine. Wines merit lies within the individual.” All photos above - C. Nelson-Pollard

Le Café Vivant are presenting "On My way to Broadway 2" this week-end 12 - 14 May at the Casino Théâtre in Rolle. Le Café Vivant provides a link between local and international expatriates in French-speaking Switzerland via the performing arts, and through French & English programmes. Tickets here

Jardins en Fête takes place this weekend in Coppet and this year the theme is "Urban Gardens". This Fête gets bigger every year and is set in the lovely grounds of the Château in Coppet. Full details of opening times, entrance fees, access etc, click here. See video below from 2016.

Next Friday the 19th May 2017, it's Neighbours' Day in Nyon, Prangins, Gland, Rolle, Morges, Geneva, Lausanne and in many other towns and cities in Switzerland and across Europe. Look out for the posters in your area or in your building. If there isn't an event going on where you live, why not organise one of your own and invite the neighbours over? Events are usually held in the early evening and they can be anything from a simple apéro to a barbecue or a répas canadien (pot-luck supper). *Nyon council can provide posters, balloons, invitation flyers, even T-shirts and trestle tables for the event (if there are enough in stock!) and they have announced that there will be a special prize for the first 60 organisers. Email lafetedesvoisins@nyon.ch or call 022-316 40-40 for more information. *Note: many other town councils offer a similar service - click on the links above for each town. If any readers plan on organising an event and take photos of it, do send them through to Living in Nyon and we will happily publish them on this site! (Please check your neighbours are happy to be in the photo!)

Nyon council have issued an appeal to all residents to check whether the bottles they throw in the P.E.T recycling bin really are P.E.T bottles. A reminder that P.E.T bottles contain drinks, they are not shampoo bottles, milk bottles, detergent etc, these products can be taken back either to the supermarket/place where they were purchased (if they have a specialised collection point), or they can be thrown in the official rubbish/trash sack. Over the last few years, the quality of recycling in the Nyon region has deteriorated resulting in extra costs for the council and more products have to be incinerated rather than recycled. A video (in French) explains the difference between the two different kinds of plastics and the importance of correct recycling. More information here on the council website.

The Château de Prangins has a new exhibition entitled "Work - from 1860 to today". This exhibition features photographs which explore how earning a living has changed over time. From a photo from 1865 of a chambermaid working at the Hôtel Beau-Rivage in Lausanne, to a worker in 1949 clinging to scaffolding on the tower of Geneva cathedral, there are some fascinating photos to see. The exhibition is on until the 15th October 2017. Full details of the opening times of the museum and entrance price etc Click here Chambermaid, Hôtel Beau-Rivage, 1865, Lausanne (VD), photo: Constant Delessert. © Swiss National Museum Start of construction of the kiln at Ziegelei Allschwil brickworks, 1898, photo: Eduard Müller. © Swiss National Museum Seamstresses, around 1940, photo: Theo Ballmer. © Swiss National Museum Worker on the cathedral tower, 1949, Geneva, photo: PDL. © Swiss National Museum The May 2017 Living in the Know podcast is now out! This podcast is a collaboration between Living in Nyon and Know-it-all passport and in May's podcast, Catherine talk about an exhibition (previously featured on this site - click here) that has recently opened in Nyon, which tells the story of bathing in Lake Geneva. As Spring is now in the air Lisa reveals where and when you can get lots of tulip bulbs for a really good price, and she highlights two of the Jardin Botaniques worth visiting in the local area. She also teaches Catherine a couple of French expressions connected to the word “flower”. Just press the "play" button below to hear the podcast. This month’s podcast has kindly been sponsored by GEMS World Academy Switzerland.

Five of the winning films screened throughout the day on Saturday 29th April in Nyon The closing ceremony of Visions du Réel took place tonight, Friday the 28th April. The winners of the prizes in the various film categories were announced and the festival has officially come to a close. However, if any readers missed the opportunity to see any documentaries during the week there is an opportunity to see five of the winning films tomorrow Saturday 29th April from 10:30 onwards until 20:00, all of these films will be screened at the Salle Communale in Nyon. CHF 10 per film or CHF 38 for all five films Description of films in English on each link 10:30 – La Pesca et Vivre Riche 14:00 – All that passes through a window doesn't open 16:00 – Retour au Palais 18:00 – In Loco Parentis ( note: this is one of the films that Living in Nyon reviewed -see here) 20:00 – Taste of Cement (also reviewed by this site - see here) This is the final year that Luciano Barisone is the festival director, after seven years he is now moving onto pastures new and leaving the festival in good shape. When he first arrived there were 20,000 spectators - this year well over 40,000 participated in the festival. Even on sunny days some of the cinemas were full. There was also a big increase in the number of films submitted to the festival. In his final press conference of Visions du Réel, Mr Barisone recalled that seven years ago the majority of films came from Europe. Today, films are submitted from around the world. This year there was a large delegation of film professionals from South Africa (the featured country at the 2017 festival). The festival has evolved enormously over the years - involving the local schools in the festival, adding the town of Gland as a screening venue, and holding roundtable workshops and debates for the professional filmmakers. Mr Barisone thanked everyone involved in creating the festival from the volunteers to the staff and the whole team. Photo above - Mr Luciano Barisone Mr Claude Ruey, the Executive President of the festival also told the press that Visions du Réel has now become one of the most important documentary film festivals in the world. The new director will be Mme Emilie Bujès.

There will be an open day at the Conservatoire de L'Ouest Vaudois in Nyon on Saturday 29th April from 10:00 - 16:00. There will be workshops for children (from 3 years old) to try out new instruments, and the chance to discover other courses held at the Conservatoire, from theatre to singing and more. The conservatoire is set along the lakeside in Nyon. Call 022 994 2360 for more info.

When director Dan Girmus chose to make a documentary about the people of Pine Ridge in South Dakota, he was determined not to go down the clichéd route by focussing purely on the fact that Pine Ridge (one of the 326 territories returned to the Native American communities in the United States), is also known as one of the poorest. Instead he pointed his lens on the day to day life of families living on the reservation: there are weddings, births, fourth of July celebrations, rodeos, lessons in classrooms, traditional ceremonies, people having tattoos, council meetings and in the background, the local radio station plays a mixture of music and gives advice to listeners, from the importance of having I.D with them when they pick up medicine from pharmacies to upcoming local events. In this film Oyate, Girmus has achieved his objective, this is a sensitively shot film and it brought the world of big skies, American landscapes and people of Pine Ridge U.S.A to a fascinated Nyon audience on Wednesday afternoon. In the debate after the film questions were asked about the current U.S government's attitude to the Native American people, the North Dakota pipeline situation, the learning of the local language on the reservation and the state of the local education system. As a first film, Oyate is an excellent one and Living in Nyon looks forward to more work by this director. There will be one more screening at 12:00 on Thursday 27th at 12:00 at the Capitole Fellini. See trailer below

There was a long round of well-deserved applause in the Capitole cinema in Nyon on Tuesday night after the world premiere screening of the film Dusk Chorus - Based on Fragments of Extinction, produced by Alessandro D'Emilia and Nika Saravanja. This film was a "coup de coeur" for the Living in Nyon editor and was also much appreciated by the audience. It is a fabulous insight into the world of sound and in this case, the sound to be heard inside an Ecuadorian primary rainforest. The film follows David Monacchi, a sound artist, a “field recorder” and eco-acoustic composer while he is at work. In the film we learn that the each species in the forest communicates on a very specific frequency, never interfering with the others. The installation of a nearby pipeline in the forest has upset this balance and Monacchi demonstrates how through the medium of sound. In the question and answer session after the screening Monacchi explained about the process of filming and recording and in doing so he opened up a whole new world to the audience. With superb cinematography and production this is a magnificent film. David Monacchi has set himself the mission of saving nature's sound heritage - if you want to know more about his work, see website here Unfortunately, the two screenings of this film at the Visions du Réel festival have now taken place, but there are tentative plans for it to be screened at IUCN in Gland in the future, so watch this space. Meanwhile, the documentary is touring at various documentary film festivals around the world. See (and hear!) a short extract in the trailer below. Dusk Chorus - trailer from David Monacchi on Vimeo.

China's Van Goghs - Screening on Thursday 27th April at the Théâtre de Marens in Nyon at 18:30 In 1989 in the village of Dafen in China there were 20 painters/workers copying oil paintings and making reproductions of famous artworks. Today there are over 10,000. One of these painters is Xiaoyong Zhao who specialises in painting the works of Van Gogh, and over the years he has sold hundreds of copies of "Sunflowers", "The Starry Night" and other works to a buyer who lives in Amsterdam. Xiaoyong Zhao and his whole family paint and work long hours in creating these reproductions. They study the photos they have been sent of each work and paint the size of the picture according to the commission, they frame them, create pallets for then and ship them off to the other side of the world. After many years working on thousands of copies, Xiaoyong Zhao has a yearning to see an original Van Gogh painting so with some fellow workers he heads off to the Netherlands. The trip produces some unexpected consequences for him resulting in him assessing his own artistic talents and his future. This documentary directed by Haibo Yu and Tianqi Kiki Yu is a fascinating look at the extraordinary life of these painters and of contemporary life in China. The excellent soundtrack also deserves a special mention. See the trailer below.

Ouaga Girls - directed by Theresa Traore Dahlberg, screening Wednesday 26th at 19:00 at the Théâtre de Marens in Nyon and Thursday 27th at 20:30 at the Théâtre de Grand Champ in Gland. Every year the Visions du Réel documentary film festival brings the world to Nyon and in this documentary, the viewer is transported to the heat and life of Burkina Faso. It follows a group of girls in Ouagadougou who are studying to be car mechanics. They are determined to be a success in life - be independent, earn money, look after their family, do a "man's job". This in a country where over half the young people do not have employment. Some girls can't wait to get off the course and are bored, they are impatient to make money and do something. There certainly seems to be plenty of hanging around during the studying which goes slowly, in between fixing broken cars they chat, they braid each other's hair and occasionally they try to avoid work. But skills are learned, exams are sat and opportunities are taken. They are also given lessons in morality, they are provided with a counsellor and we hear some of their personal stories and goals for life. Meanwhile political change is happening throughout the country. It all adds up to a gentle and uplifting film that leaves you wanting the sequel. Photos above and below - courtesy Visions du Réel