Swiss wine is often ignored because it’s such a small winegrowing nation compared with its neighbors France and Italy. Even its other neighbors, Germany and Austria, have much larger vineyard areas than Switzerland’s 15,000 hectares. That’s a tenth the size of Bordeaux.
However, this isn’t the main reason Swiss wines receive scant attention from international consumers, sommeliers and the media. The fundamental problem is the widespread perception that Swiss wine is mostly thin and bland dry whites from the chasselas grape, which are often sold under the name Fendant.
This view is probably what lies behind the recent decision by one of our competitors not to cover Switzerland at all. We are moving in the opposite direction because the statistics prove that view to be factually incorrect and outdated. According to Swiss government statistics from 2020, the most widely planted grape variety in Switzerland today is pinot noir, with 3,875 hectares. For us that was a good reason to focus on Swiss pinot noir and to look at the wines from other grape varieties the leading pinot noir producers make.
We wouldn’t be surprised if many of you are still a bit skeptical of Swiss wines. If that’s the case we recommend you try the Gantenbein Pinot Noir Graubünden 2019, the highest-rated pinot noir in this report. When you do, hang on to your hat, because this Alpine masterpiece is equal for many to the Grand Cru wines of Burgundy. The same producer scored just as highly with their Gantenbein Chardonnay Graubünden 2019.
And take a look at the tasting notes below and you will see that we also found great pinot noirs from Fromm (five of them!), Donatsch and Hermann in German-speaking Graubunden, plus Schloss Bachtobel in Thurgau and Jean-Rene Germanier in the Valais region – the Swiss section of the Rhone Valley that is mostly French-speaking.
We were also blown away by the Jean-René Germanier Syrah Valais Cayas Reserve 2018, a spectacular syrah you could almost mistake for a top Cornas from a good, but not hot, vintage. In contrast to the Gantenbein wines and to Cornas, this is not an expensive wine.
Cayas has been impressive for many years, particularly since winemaker Gilles Besse extended the barrel maturation with the 2013 vintage from one year to two years. Interestingly, the extra time in oak did not make Cayas more oaky. In the past, too much oak was quite often a problem with Swiss syrahs. Besse said that since extending barrel maturation, “the wine is more mature, complex and less oaky when released.”
Considering that just over a hundred wines were tasted, this is an impressive strike rate and another reason for us to pursue the development of Swiss wines further in the coming years.
Given that 25 red grape varieties and 28 white grape varieties have vineyard areas of more than 10 hectares, it is impossible to make generalized statements about Swiss wines that go beyond the simple observation that because of the mountains (Jura and Alps) this is a relatively cool-climate location.
That makes pinot noir a good fit. As Gantenbein Winery owner Daniel Gantenbein told me, “in Graubunden in the summer we generally have warm, but not hot days, then cool nights. This is very good for pinot noir and chardonnay.” German-speaking Graubunden lies at the eastern tip of Switzerland.
The mountains also mean that some parts of Switzerland, like the Valais, remained rather isolated for a long time, which seems to be one factor that led to the development of a string of indigenous grape varieties.
The white petite arvine with 235 hectares is the most important of these, also because of its uniquely salty taste. And the Jean-René Germanier Petite Arvine Valais 2021 proves they can also give delicious wines.
We look forward to bringing you more delicious news from Switzerland in the future.
– Stuart Pigott, Senior Editor
SEE MORE OF OUR ANNUAL REPORTS:
BORDEAUX: UNICORNS CUSHION 2021’S ROUGH RIDE
URUGUAY: AS ZESTY ALBARIÑO RISES, TANNAT EMBRACES ITS FRESH SIDE
OREGON: EYE-OPENING CHARDS, IMPECCABLE PROVENANCE AND THE QUEST FOR ‘BREATHTAKING’ WINES
Hope you’ll consider a future report focusing on Switzerland’s Ticino region, with its beautiful, distinctive merlot-oriented wines that really charm me.