Swiss wine

Vineyards in Sion

Swiss wine is produced from nearly 15 000 hectares of vineyards, and the wines are mainly produced in the west and in the south of Switzerland, in the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Ticino, Valais and Vaud. White grapes varieties are grown on 42% of the country's vineyard surface, and red grape varieties on 58%.

According to data from the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture,¹ the Swiss wine production in 2009 was just over 1.1 million hectoliters, divided into 527 000 hl of white wine and 587 000 hl of red wine. Nearly all the national production is drunk within the national boundaries; less than 2% of the wine is exported (mainly to Germany).

History

First grapes

The tradition of wine and viticulture in Switzerland is very old, at minimum from the Roman era. Some archaeological evidence seems to prove that the grapes were planted in Valais earlier than the Roman era. In an archaeological excavation near Gamsen, some old grape seed was found, and they date to the Iron Age. Also in Ticino some pollen was found in a palynology excavation. But this evidence does not really prove that the grapes were cultivated, as opposed to spontaneous grapes.

First wines

The first bottle, made in ceramic, was found near Sembrancher (Valais), in a Celtic tomb of a lady of 2nd century BC. These bottles are named vases a trottola, and they are produced in some Celtic farms in northern Italy. From an inscription on the bottle, we know that it contained wine. Around the 150s BC, in the Celtic era, the people in Valais offered wine to the dead, and probably they also drank the same wine. After a century, the Roman amphorae also appeared.

Geography

The main wine regions of Switzerland marked in brown.

Swiss wine regions can be divided in three zones:

The South: see Ticino (wine region) and Valtellina
The West: see Lavaux, Valais, Geneva, ...
The North-East: see Graubünden, Zurich,...

Grape varieties

Red grape varieties growing in Graubunden.

Chasselas vines growing in Valais.

The two most common grape varieties in Switzerland are the red Pinot Noir at around 30% and the white Chasselas at around 27%. A large number of grape varieties are cultivated in Switzerland, many of them indigenous or regional specialities. Some 90 grape varieties are cultivated on an area of 1 ha or more.¹

Common grape varieties in Switzerland (2009 situation, all varieties >50 ha)¹
Variety	Colour	Synonym(s)	Area (%)	Area (hectares)
1. Pinot Noir	red	Blauburgunder	29.7%	4 402
2. Chasselas	white	Gutedel	27.1%	4 013
3. Gamay	red		10.2%	1 514
4. Merlot	red		6.9%	1 028
5. Müller-Thurgau	white		3.3%	493
6. Gamaret	red		2.6%	380
7. Chardonnay	white		2.2%	321
8. Sylvaner	white	Rhin	1.6%	241
9. Pinot Gris	white	Malvoisie	1.5%	216
10. Garanoir	red		1.4%	203
11. Syrah	red		1.2%	181
12. Petite Arvine	white		1.0%	154
13. Sauvignon Blanc	white		0.9%	134
14. Humagne Rouge	red		0.9%	128
15. Cornalin	red	Landroter	0.8%	116
16. Diolinoir	red		0.8%	112
17. Pinot Blanc	white		0.7%	105
18. Savagnin Blanc	white	Helda	0.6%	83
19. Cabernet Sauvignon	red		0.4%	63
20. Cabernet Franc	red		0.4%	54
All white varieties			57.9	6 245
All red varieties			42.1	8 574
Grand total			100.0	14 820

Classification

For a long time, Switzerland lacked detailed national regulations regarding wine classification, which meant that it was to a large extent up to wine producers about what to put on wine labels; neither a German wine-style Prädikat system or a French wine-style appellation system was implemented, and as a non-EU member, Switzerland did not have to implement European Union wine regulations.² Wines were usually labelled by their village of origin, by grape variety, or using a brand name. From the early 1990s, though, a French-style Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée system has started to be implemented, starting in some of the French-speaking cantons. These regulations are mainly implemented by the cantons themselves.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Office fédéral de l’agriculture OFAG: Das Weinjahr 2009 / L'année d'viticole 2009
^ Jancis Robinson, ed. (2006). "Switzerland". Oxford Companion to Wine (Third Edition ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 671. ISBN 0-19-860990-6.

External links

swisswine.ch

[WJ_2009-0] Office fédéral de l’agriculture OFAG: Das Weinjahr 2009 / L'année d'viticole 2009

[1] Jancis Robinson, ed. (2006). "Switzerland". Oxford Companion to Wine (Third Edition ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 671. ISBN 0-19-860990-6.

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