View full article for the overview of the grapes used in Switzerland for Swiss wine production. This is a work in progress and looks to be so for a while. There're a lot of grapes for a little country!
| Wine Grapes of Switzerland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Aligoté Altesse Amigne Arvine (Petite Arvine) Auxerrois blanc Bernarda Chardonnay Chasselas Completer Ermitage Fendant Freisamer Gewürztraminer Gouais Blanc Grüner Gutedel Gwäss Heida Hermitage Himbertscha | Humagne Blanch Johannisberg Lafnetscha Malvoisie Marsanne Blanche Müller-Thurgau Vieux Muscat Païen Petite Arvine Pinot Blanc Pinot Gris Prié Blanc Räuschling Resi Rèze Grape Rhine Riesling Riesling-Sylvaner Savagnin Blanc Sémillon Sylvaner | Weisser Burgunder Bondola Cabernet Sauvignon Cornalin Cornalin d´Aoste Diolinoir Durize Eyholzer Roter Gamaret Gamay Garanoir Goron de Bovernier Humagne Rouge Merlot Mondeuse Oriou Petit Rouge Pinot Noir Rouge de Fully Syrah |
Aligoté
Originates from Burgundy and spread through France. Originally called "Plant du Rhin" when it was brought to Geneva in early in the 1900's, and is now something of a specialty in Geneva. It was introduce into Valais as an alternative to Johannisberg, but it didn't fare so well, and today it survives in only a few small areas in Unterwallis.
Style: Nice light dry white
Origin: France
Altesse
More appreciated on it’s home turf between Lyon and Lake Geneva, it thrives in Valais.
Style: Well rounded, stylish sweet wine
Origin: France
Amigne
You may guess from looking at it's name, "vitis aminea major", Amigne was brought to Switzerland by the Romans. This grape can also produce a Sauternes-like late-harvest wine. These wines can be aged, and are good to go in two to three years.
Style: fine dry wine to elegant and sweet.
Origin: Rome
Arvine (Petite Arvine)
Another delivery from Rome, there are actually three Arvine grapes varities, only two used for wine production: Grand Arvine, with the larger berries, and Petit Arvine, with the, you guessed it, smaller berries. The unloved Arvine brune has faded from the scene. Grand Arvine gets criticized for displaying little character, whereas the Petit Arvine tends to have a fuller bouquet and lower acidity. In blind tasting, Petit Arvine generally kicks ass against it's plumper brother. Arvine is also an excellent grape for a late-harvest wine, which can be cellared.
Style: Subtle dry or sweet late-harvest style
Origin: Rome
Auxerrois blanc
A clone of the prolific Pinot Noir, Auxerrois blanc is a close cousin of Pinot blanc. It comes from the countyof Auxerrois, and is best known from Alsace.
Style: Neutral to honey to asparagus
Origin: France
Bernarda, a.k.a. Prié blanc
An old vine, but you won't find it for sale anymore, but…, it's being experimented with by Jean Nicollier (I’m searching for more references). The Bernarda is a Prié blanc from the Val d'Aosta that may have come into Switzerland over the St. Bernhard, and hench the name. Origin: Italy Chardonnay A vigorous and adaptable vine from Burgundy, Chardonnay grows pretty much everywhere that wine is made. Although production is not so high in Switzerland, award-winning wines have come out of Geneva, Valais and Neuchâtel.
Style: Light and dry through very fruity and complex
Origin: France
Chardonnay
A vigorous and adaptable vine from Burgundy, Chardonnay grows pretty much everywhere that wine is made. Although production is not so high in Switzerland, award-winning wines have come out of Geneva, Valais and Neuchâtel.
Style: Light and dry through very fruity and complex
Origin: France
Chasselas, a.k.a. Fendant (Valais), Gutedel (German-speaking areas)
In contrast to it's native France, where it wasn't too successful as a wine grape, the Chasselas shines in Switzerland. Chasselas may be one of the first grape varieties ever cultivated and is the dominant grape grown in Switzerland. Basically neutral in character, it reflects the nuances of the terroirs where it's grown.
Style: gentle and crisp through to full body fruity wines.
Origin: France
Chénin blanc, a.k.a. Pineau de la Loire, Steen (South Africa)
The versatile "Pinot de la Loire" produces some fine wine in Valais. Like the Chasselas, it provides a neutral canvas for the winemaker's art and terroir. Originating in the Loire valley of France, it has no relation or similarity to Pinot blanc.
Style: dry white wines, sparkling wines, dessert wines and brandy.
Origin: France
Completer, a.k.a. Lafnetscha
Completer is probably the same grape as Lafnetscha from Haut-Valais. It is a rare indigenous vine from the Gräubunden area. Used in the Valais and Grisons regions to make aromatic wine blends with some aging ability.
Origin: Indigenous
Ermitage, a.k.a. Marsanne Blanche
See Marsanne Blanche
Fendant, a.k.a. Chasselas
Fendant is a protected designation and may only be used in Valais for wines made from the Chasselas grape. In contrast to it's native France, where it wasn't too successful as a wine grape, the Chasselas shines in Switzerland.
Style: gentle and crisp through to full body fruity wines.
Origin: France
Freisamer
The Freisamer plays more of a role in Graubünden but has a small presence is a few other cantons. It’s a hybrid of Silvaner x Pinot gris, developed in Freiburg in the Breisgau region. A temperamental grape, in that it puts great demands on the type of soil and location – do I hear you say “terroir”? – it’s been trying since the sixties but hasn’t really taken off.
Origin: Germany
Gewürztraminer
The name, Gewürztraminer, is obvisely German, the origin of the grape is the Tyrollean Alps, near the village of Termeno (Tramin) in Alto Adige, Italy. Gewürz is German for spice. The vine is evidently a pain in the ass to grow and does best in cooler climates. In Germany the wine of this grape is often made off-dry, whereas in Alsace it’s dry and floral. Gewürztraminer is one of the most pungent wine varietals and reasonably easy to identify with just your nose. It is one of the few wine that can hold it’s own with spicy Asian food.
Style: Aromatic, off-dry to dry, spicy wines
Origin: Italy
Gouais Blanc
A bit of a slut, this one. Not good for much, but with a long, long line of descendents, including the noble Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Possibly from Croatia, it’s called Heunisch Weiss in Central Europe. The name Gouais is comes from ‘gou’, and a scornful word from old French referring to its standing as the grape of the peasants. Very prevalent in the Ile-de-France and in the Champagne during the Middle Ages. Perhaps brought into the Valais by the descendants of the Ligurians. The acidic and zuckerarme, it’s primarily used to blend with low acidic wine to give it a bit of liveliness. Ampelographic studies in the old vineyards of Oberwallis have found a red Gwäss with the same characteristics as the white Gwäss. Almost abandoned, it survives in Haut-Valais hiding under the alias of Gwäss, thanks to Mr. Josef-Marie Chanton, http://www.chanton.ch/home.html
Origin: Croatia
Style: Acidic, used mostly to blend
Gutedel, a.k.a Chasselas in German speaking region
Gwäss, a.k.a Gouais blanc
Heida, a.k.a. Païen, Savagnin or Traminer
From France's Franche-Compté region, is a rarity that is grown in the high vineyards of Visperterminen with the help of the warm Foehn winds. Probably brought into Valais by the Ligurians during their retreat into the mountains.
Origin: France
Himbertscha
Himbertscha is one of the rare indigenous white varieties from Haut-Valais, mostly at home in the vineyards of Visperterminen. The name "Himbertscha" is said to come from a raspberry (himbeer in German) taste of the wine himbeerartigen. Jose-Marie Chanton (http://www.chanton.ch/home.html) who specializes in cultivating the old vines from Wallis makes this wine available under the quality lable “Brantignon”. He also cultivates the Himbertscharebe, another “rediscovered old Walliser white wine.
Origin: Switzerland
Humagne blanche
Only planted in Valais today, Humagne blanche is another of the very old Swiss grapes, probably brought in by the Romans. Having a high iron content, and supposedly health-giving properties, this wine was decreed a “health wine” (Krankenwein) for centuries. The oldes written documents in which this wine is referred to as "vinum hum-anum" dates from the 12th And 14th Centuries. It’s also called “Kinderbettenwein” or baby crib wine. I’ll bet those kids didn’t have much to cry about.
No relation to the Humagne Rouge
Origin: Rome
Johannisberg
After Fendant, Johannisberg numero dos in white wines of Valais. This name is only used in Valais; the rest of French-speaking Switzerland it Gros Rhin. The grape used to make Johannisberg is the Grüner Sylvaner.
Origin is not clear. On the one hand it strongly resembles an apianisien (loved by bees) grape, as describecd by Pliny the Elder in his "Historia naturalis", on the other hand, it’s more likely birthplace is in Romanian Transylvania.
Origin: Transylvania
Kerner
Named after local poet and physician, Justinus Kerner, the Kerner grape was hybridized in 1929 in Lauffen in the Württemberg region. A hybred of the white Riesling and the red Trollinger (Schiava grossa), it resembles the Riesling in character.
It is being vinified in limited quantities in Valais, but is Valais future dosen’t look to bright. It continues to do well in Germany, and on a smaller basis in Austria and Italy.
Origin: Germany
Style: Aromatic, Riesling-like wines that are lively and acidic with sweet fruity bouquets.
Lafnetscha
Here’s an obscure language lessen. The name Lafnetscha is derived from the local dialect. Because the grape is harvested early, it makes for a acerbic wine, which should not be drunk too young. In the local dialect, the verb to drink is “gelafft”, so laff-nit-scha is drink-not-already, sort of.
As to the grape, it is one of the oldest in from Haut-Valais. Almost identical to the Blachier, and possible related to the Completer.
Marsanne Blanche a.k.a. Marsanne and Rousanne blanche
Originally from the steep slopes of the Côtes-du-Rhône, this grape found it’s way up the Rhone to Valais in Switzerland, and is known here under the name of Ermitage (or Hermitage). Style: A smooth and full-bodied aperitif and dessert wine, Ermitage is a good wine to lay down.
Der Vieux Muscat du Pays
A very old small berry Valais grape, difficult to cultivate. It is an aromatic speciality limited almost exclusively to Valais. Some clone or mutation of the Muscat is grown on almost every continent.
Style: Aperitif and dessert wine
Origin: Switzerland
TO Be Continued (and it does go on!)
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