Only 1% of Swiss wine is exported, and what does get out is usually rare and expensive. A ceramic wine bottle was found in the Valais, in the tomb of a Celtic woman who lived in the second century BCE. In the sixth century, monks from Burgundy established a monastery at Aigle, Vaud, and began cultivating the vine with their customary dedication. Before the arrival of phylloxera in 1874, the country counted ~35,000ha of vines, compared to ~15,000ha today. In 1990, the Valais set up a European-style appellation system, and other cantons soon followed suit.

Today, owing to domestic tastes, more red than white wine is produced, and quality can be very high. The most important area, accounting for almost 70% of national output, is in the francophone west, along Lake Geneva (cantons of Geneva and Vaud) and into the upper Rhône valley (canton of the Valais, see below). In Geneva, where I grew up, plantings are very diverse, including national favourites such as Gamay, Pinot Noir, and Chasselas; international varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris; modern hybrids such as Gamaret and Garanoir; and local varieties such as Altesse and Mondeuse. In neighbouring Vaud, the climate is moderated by the lake, which also mirrors sunlight onto proximal vineyards. The region is dominated by Chasselas, which is highly reflective of terroir. Its most revered expressions are the Grand Crus of Dézaley and Calamin on the terraced slopes of Lavaux, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other areas include the Rhine valley in the north and north-east, Ticino south of the Alps, and Lake Neuchâtel (‘Trois Lacs’) in the west. 

Overall, the climate is cool, but the Valais is relatively warm and dry, and Ticino warm and humid. Typically, the cool climate and rugged landscape restricts viticulture to favourable pockets, placing natural limits on production volumes and holding sizes. Over 240 varieties are cultivated, the most common being Pinot Noir, Chasselas [Fendant, Dorin, Gutedel], Gamay, and Merlot. Pinot Noir accounts for around three-quarters of plantings in the Germanic north and north-east, Chasselas for around four-fifths of plantings in Vaud, and Merlot for almost nine-tenths of plantings in Ticino. Pinot Noir and Gamay are often blended to produce Dôle, a concept similar to Bourgogne Passetoutgrains, with a rosé version known as Dôle Blanche. Oeil de Perdrix [‘Eye of the Partridge’], most associated with the area of Neuchâtel, is a pale rosé made from Pinot Noir. Switzerland is full of blind tasting quagmires, such as red Dézaley, Neuchâtel Viognier, Thurgau Pinot Noir, Valais Syrah, and Ticino white Merlot!

The Valais

The Valais (‘the real Northern Rhône’), with its 5000ha under vine, produces over a third of Swiss wine, and is without a doubt Switzerland’s most important and interesting wine region. Most plantings are on the terraced southeast facing-slopes of the main valley, stretching 50km from Fully in the southwest to Leuk in the northeast, where the road signs slip from French into German. There are also small plantings in the side valleys and on what, before climate change, used to be the ‘wrong side’ of the main valley.

Vineyards range in altitude from 450m to 800m or even 1000m in Vispertal. Above them is the Valais’s other claim to fame: its picturesque Alpine resorts such as Leukerbad, Evolène, Zermatt (Matterhorn), Verbier, and Crans Montana. And below them, along the Rhône, fruit trees, industry, and urban development—and two hilled castles at Sion, which you can visit for a view of the surrounding vineyards (sturdy shoes required, skip the museum).

Owing to the Alps and foehn winds, the climate is surprisingly warm and dry with, annually, 2100 hours of sunshine and just 600mm of rain. At Domaine de Beudon in Fully, cacti (prickly pear) have naturalised at 800m asl. The long growing season and high diurnal temperature variation support organic viticulture, late ripening, and the production of sweet, sometimes botrytised, wines, known locally as vins flétris. The main threats are spring frosts and summer droughts, and light irrigation of the thin soils is often necessary.

These soils are varied, ranging from granite in the west (favourable to Gamay) to chalk in the east (favourable to Pinot Noir), interspersed by areas of loess, moraine, schist, and pebbly alluvial fan. Some fifty grape varieties are permitted, but the most important are Pinot Noir and Gamay for the reds, and, for the whites, Fendant (Chasselas with berries that split)—introduced from Vaud in 1848. Other important varieties include, for the whites, Johannisberg (Sylvaner), Petite Arvine, Heida (Savagnin, also called Païen in the Bas Valais), and Ermitage (Marsanne), and, for the reds, Syrah, Humagne Rouge, and Cornalin. There are 12 designated Grand Cru villages, each one for a limited number of grape varieties. These are Chamoson, Conthey, Fully, Leytron, Saillon, Saint-Léonard, Salgesch, Savièse, Sierre, Vétroz, Sion, and Visperterminen.

When I visited, I was most impressed by the Cornalin (a variety which repays its difficulty with silky notes of morello cherry and cloves), Syrah, Fendant, Petite Arvine, Heida, and the rarer Amigne and Humagne Blanche (which is unrelated to Humagne Rouge). In total, there are only 41ha of Amigne, 33 of which are in Vétroz. All these varieties are seriously ageworthy. At its best, Fendant resembles Chablis, and I tasted several excellent 20-year-old examples with notes of toffee, marzipan, cognac, and—still—a salty, iodine finish. Favourite producers include Simon Maye in picturesque Chamoson (try the Fendants and, later, drive up to Les Violettes for a terroir lunch), Jean-René Germanier in Vétroz (try the Cayas Syrah), Domaine de Beudon in Fully (try the old Fendants), Denis Mercier and Domaine des Muses in Sierre, and Cave Caloz in Miège.

Neel Burton is author of The Concise Guide to Wine and Blind Tasting.