Switzerland
Partly Cloudy, 14C, Geneva
The Swiss wine region has nearly 15000 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.
History
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 even earlier than the Roman era. In an archaeological excavation near Gamsen, some old grape seed was found, and they date to the Iron Age. The first bottle, made in ceramic, was found near Sembrancher (Valais), in a Celtic tomb of a lady from the 2nd century BC. These bottles are named 'vases a trottola', and they are produced in 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.
The Present day
According to data from the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture, the Swiss wine production in 2005 was about 1 million hectolitres, divided into 479 000 hl of white wine and 522 000 hl of red wine. The quality can be surprisingly good especially for Pinot Noir and white wines from the many local varieties.
Nearly all the national production is drunk within the national boundaries; less than 2% of the wine is exported (mainly to Germany). Switzerland is of course a large net importer of wine. Traditional sources were the Beaujolais crus and Valtellina.
