Swiss wine is produced from nearly of , and the are mainly produced in the west and in the south of Switzerland, in the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Ticino, Valais and Vaud. White grape varieties are grown on 43% of the country's vineyard area, and red grape varieties on 57%.
According to the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture, Swiss wine production in 2019 was just over , almost equal amounts red and white.
Nearly all the national production is drunk within the national boundaries;
History
The tradition of wine and
viticulture in Switzerland is very old, beginning no later than the Roman era. Coming from the Mediterranean basin, viticulture was generally introduced from the 1st century AD, after integration into the Roman Empire.
Ticino and Upper
Valais are perhaps exceptions: it is possible that the cultivated vine (
Vitis vinifera) was introduced from the
Iron Age south of the
Alps and that it then crossed the Alpine passes.
The oldest recorded bottle, made in ceramic, was found near Sembrancher (Valais), in a tomb of a lady of 2nd century BC. An inscription on the bottle indicates 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.
Vineyards became an integral part of the Swiss landscape. The most extensive terraced vineyards are found in Valais and Lavaux.
Geography and climate
Six wine regions are defined by Swiss Wine Promotion, an association that represents Swiss winemakers.
They are: Geneva, German-speaking Switzerland, Three Lakes (including Neuchatel,
Fribourg, and part of the canton of
Bern),
Ticino,
Vaud, and
Valais.
Switzerland is a fairly small country with great diversity in climate and soils due to the Alps. Ticino, on the southern side, has a sunnier climate more influenced by the Mediterranean, while the rest of the country, being on the north side, are more affected by weather coming off the Atlantic Ocean.
Grape varieties
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 specialties. Some 90 grape varieties are cultivated on an area of or more.
[ Office fédéral de l’agriculture OFAG: Das Weinjahr 2009 / L'année d'viticole 2009 .]
>+ Common grape varieties in Switzerland (2009, all varieties greater than 50 ha) | Area (ha) |
| 4402 |
| 4013 |
| 1514 |
| 1028 |
| 493 |
| 380 |
| 321 |
| 241 |
| 216 |
| 203 |
| 181 |
| 154 |
| 134 |
| 128 |
| 116 |
| 112 |
| 105 |
| 83 |
| 63 |
| 54 |
| 6245 |
| 8574 |
| 14820 |
Other grapes grown in Switzerland include hybrid varieties like Muscat bleu which had in cultivation for commercial winemaking 2009.[J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz. Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours, p. 687, Allen Lane 2012 .]
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 ; neither a German wine-style Prädikat system nor a French wine-style appellation system was implemented, and as a non-EU member, Switzerland did not have to implement European Union wine regulations.
Wine styles
Over the years, the Swiss have developed a number of unique specialty wines from grapes rarely found outside Switzerland. These include:
-
Vin des glaciers—a sherry-style wine that utilizes a solera system of wine stored in larch wood or oak barrels that are never fully emptied with newer being added to the barrels containing the older vintages.
[My Switzerland " Vin des glaciers - Le "sherry" du Valais" Official Switzerland Tourism Site. Accessed: August 18th, 2012.] The wines are primarily made from the Swiss wine grape Rèze in Valais canton.[J. Robinson. Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes, p. 152, Oxford University Press 1996 .]
See also
-
Oeil de Perdrix
-
Olive production in Switzerland
-
Agriculture in Switzerland
-
Old World wine
-
Winemaking
Further reading
External links
