WINE-COUNTRIES SWITZELAND

1 - Aargau
2 - Ginevra
3 - Grigioni
4 - Neuchâtel
5 - Canton Ticino
6 - Vallese
7 - Vaud
8 - Zurigo Wineries

Vineyard area: 15 thousand hectares

Total production: 1.35 million hectolitres

Annual consumption
total: 3 million hectolitres
per capita: 44.47 litres

Exports: 12 thousand hectolitres

Imports:1,71 million hectolitres

Principal grape varieties: chasselas, gamay, gewürztraminer, merlot, müller-thurgau, pinot gris, pinot noir, rauschling, riesling sylvaner.

Switzerland's four neighbours, Germany, France, Italy and Austria are all important wine-growing countries. On the one hand this has led the Swiss wine culture to develop independently in semi-isolation, while on the other the multifarious influences from all sides have had a strong influence on Switzerland's winegrowers and vice-versa (for example Austrian and many northern Italian producers learned about malolactic fermentation from the Swiss).

The Romans introduced wine-growing into what was then the province of Helvetia around the time of Christ, though during the early Middle Ages wine production does not appear to have been particularly wide-spread and only a few sources speak of vine plantings. Wine was the exception, beer the rule. However, around the time of the twelfth century vineyards began to be planted planted extensively and wine drinking became popular. As elsewhere in Europe it was the monasteries which turned wine-growing into an industry: Cistercian monks planted a terraced vineyard at Dézaley on a steep slope above Lake Geneva in 1142 and today it still yields one of Switzerland's most respected white wines. During the ensuing centuries Switzerland's vineyard area fluctuated considerably. Uneconomical sites were abandoned during the plague epidemics and the late medieval agricultural crisis, some were gained by conquest, others were lost.

The phylloxera or vine louse and above all industrialisation caused the vineyard area to contract to almost half its former size by the 1960s and now just under 15,000 hectares are cultivated. 76 per cent are located in West Switzerland in the cantons Valais, Vaud, Geneva and Neuchƒtel, just over 16 per cent in East Switzerland and 8 per cent in the Italian-speaking parts, mainly Ticino.

Switzerland's average wine production over the past ten years has amounted to around 1.35 million hectolitres per annum, which corresponds to the upper limit of demand on the home market, where per capita consumption has fallen from 52 litres at the end of the 1980s to 47 litres today. A new Swiss wine statute came into effect in 1993 which includes regulations aimed at limiting production both for ordinary wines throughout Switzerland and for premium wine categories bearing appellations of origin of the various cantons. Although the limits are rather generous the law does seem to have had an effect: since its introduction total production has been down to 1.2 million hectolitres which is below the country's total consumption, though bad weather also affected vineyard yields.

With a share of only one percent of production, exports are negligible and are unlikely to increase significantly. Nevertheless there is a certain interest in Swiss wines abroad, though prices are high and Chasselas white wines, the most typical and those produced in exportable quantities, are often found by foreigners to be fairly ordinary.

Swiss wines have long enjoyed a privileged status on their home market due to import quotas. Now however, Switzerland has to drop its trade barriers as part of the GATT agreement. Quotas for red wines have already been lifted and those for white wines are due to be abolished in 1996. Producers, especially those in West Switzerland are still strongly opposing the measure. However, even after liberalisation they are unlikely to suffer much from competition, for quantities allowed to be imported duty-free will be small and massive duties will be whacked onto the rest.

Swiss wines are traditionally made without barriques and are drunk young. Nevertheless certain producers, like their counterparts elsewhere, have been infected by the barrique virus, though not always to good advantage. Many producers have little experience and sensitivity working with small new oak barrels and often light wines lacking in body and richness are ruined rather than refined by barrique-ageing. This is true especially of many light-weight Pinot Noirs.On the other hand Ticino Merlots grown on the sunnier southern side of the Alps are endowed with more richness and concentration and can become more refined and interesting through barrique ageing.

In West Switzerland most vineyard holdings are small, with 20,000 growers sharing 5,265 hectares and as a result very few winegrowing families can survive without income from elsewhere. Most have second jobs or grow grapes as a hobby. Of the 800 full or part-time grower/producers a small but ever-increasing number belong to the young avant garde who work their vineyards on environmentally friendly, integrated production lines coupled with strictly limited yields. Some of these already produce superb wines. Vaud has 3,686 hectares planted with vines. Several commercial wineries and small, mainly local cooperatives share the business with a large number of grower/producers who usually have to make do with only one or two hectares and who understandably do not think much of appellations of origin and yield restrictions. For this reason the introduction of AOC here has been delayed, while in Geneva and Valais it has already been introduced and has proved a success. To date producers in Vaud have encountered no difficulties in selling their wines. Especially the wines of Féchy, Epesses, Saint Saphorin, Aigle and Yvorchy enjoy wide acclaim and sell easily at good prices, though not quite as easily as before the recession years 1991 to 1993. Neuchƒtel is often regarded as an exemplary wine canton: its 610 hectares only produce an average of 40,000 hectolitres, strongly reflecting the most restrictive yield limits of all Switzerland's cantons. Geneva in contrast is much more generous to its winegrowers who work 1495 hectares.

The most important grape variety in West Switzerland is Chasselas, known in Germany as Gutedel, which accounts for 45 per cent of plantings and 60 per cent of production. A few decades ago no less than 90 per cent of West Switzerland's vineyards were planted with this variety. In the meantime red cultivars have been gaining ground, most strongly in Valais and to a lesser extent in Vaud, Chasselas's main stronghold.

Pinot Noir is the most widely encountered red variety, which in Valais occasionally produces wines of Burgundian stature and exceptionally fruity, classy wines in the area of Neuchƒtel. Dole is the famous cuvée from Valais and must be made predominantly from Pinot Noir, with the Beaujolais variety Gamay making up the remainder. Valais has the greatest number of grape varieties, over 40 in number, many of which are autochthonous and cultivated in tiny plots, though they can produce some of Switzerland's finest wines.

Wine is grown in all the 16 German-speaking cantons of East Switzerland and as elsewhere many growers have small holdings which they tend on a hobby basis. Most of the 2,338 hectares of vineyard is fragmented and appears rather like a mosaic. Only sites with exceptional microclimates on lake shores or in river valleys are planted with vines.

The largest winegrowing district is Zürich with 611 hectares, mainly concentrated in the area between Winterthur and Schaffhausen in the Limmattal and the lower T"sstal valleys.

The canton of Schaffhausen is the exception which proves the rule. In Hallau vines are grown intensively in an area covering 482 hectares, a sizeable total considering the size of this small canton. It is Switzerland's northern-most wine growing area and income from wine is of significant economic importance. Aargau's 345 hectares on the other hand are widely scattered. The best wines come from sites along the rivers Aare and Limmat as well as the side valleys of the Tafeljura. In the Rhine Valley north of Chur the 314 hectares of vineyard are especially privileged and grapes regularly weigh in with the highest sugar levels of all Switzerland. Pinot Noir from Maienfeld, Malans, Jenins and Fl„sch is highly regarded.

70 per cent of the vineyard area is planted with Pinot Noir, while other red varieties are only grown on an experimental basis. Among whites the Riesling-Sylvaner crossing Müller Thurgau dominates, though specialities such as Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer and the once widely-grown R„uschling are increasing.

In Ticino the wine scene is dominated by two large cooperatives, a small number of medium-sized wineries, a few dozen grower/producers and a large number of growers with small plots of vineyard. Some 10,000 growers tend 1,220 hectares of vineyard and for this reason small landowners are dependent on one of the two efficient cooperatives. They are guarantors of a quality standard which has become impressive in recent years. Young growers from the German speaking cantons moved to Ticino during the 1980s and have worked with dedication, know-how and spirit of independence to produce concentrated Merlot which have made a considerable contribution to the upsurge of quality in the canton.

Today a good two-thirds of Ticino's vineyard area is planted with Merlot. This French variety was successfully introduced in the region in 1904 following the devastation caused by phylloxera, which exterminated the great number of native vines found in the region at the time. The remaining third consists mainly of ungrafted American vines which for the most part produce table grapes, though some growers use them to make a very pleasant grappa.