Swiss wine producers raise a glass to the future

Stéphane Saudane raises his glass to the future of Swiss wine swissinfo.ch

Thousands of Swiss wine producers gathered together this week to talk shop and work out how to turn the domestic grape into an overseas hit.

More than 15,000 wine growers, producers and industry insiders from Switzerland and around Europe attended the biennial trade fair, Agrovina, in the city of Martigny.

But this year’s record attendance level belied a fear among many of those present at the event that Swiss wine is failing to make significant inroads in an already crowded overseas wine market.

Stéphane Saudan, coordinator of Agrovina, insists the main obstacle to the successful exportation of Swiss wine is not a problem of quality but quantity.

Vines cover just 15,000 hectares of Swiss soil, with red wine grapes accounting for 8,000 and white for 7,000. The biggest producer is canton Valais, which boasts some 5,300 hectares, followed by Vaud with 3,900 and Geneva with 1,400.

“The dilemma is that we tend to make small quantities of wine, which makes it difficult to export,” Saudan said.

“So now we are focusing on quality products that we can export in smaller quantities for higher prices,” he added.

Philippe Marzin, the lone representative of the fledgling British wine industry at Agrovina, says he was pleasantly surprised by the high standards set by Swiss vintners.

“It was a bit of a shock to find Swiss wine was quite drinkable,” said Marzin.

“I think they do some extremely good light reds which can be compared with some French wines, and I know they would fetch good prices in Britain.”

“Of course the output is small, but it’s not the size of the vineyard that matters, but the quality that’s produced, and Switzerland is a prime example of how this can ring true,” he added.

Targeting tourists

Switzerland may be more famous internationally for cheese and chocolate than Chardonnay and Chablis, but Swiss wine merchants say foreign tourists are a captive audience for their products.

“As a tourist region, we have a good chance to market our product,” Saudan explains.

“A lot of people come from abroad and they try a glass of Swiss wine while they’re here. The problem is that in the supermarkets most people don’t recognise Swiss wine, so we have to work on that,” he adds.

One of the newest and most financially successful varieties of Swiss wine on display and available to taste at Agrovina is a range of specially fermented wines.

“Take this wine, for example,” Saudan says, effortlessly uncorking the bottle, pouring two glasses and continuing his commentary.

“It’s what we call an ‘overly matured’ wine, which means the grapes were left on the vines for one or two months more than normal.”

“The grapes get dryer and this means you get a very rich, sweet, complex taste,” he added.

Transforming production

Saudan says an increasing number of Swiss wine producers are turning over their soil to the production of similar fermented wines, which typically sell for as much as SFr50 per bottle.

Swiss vintners are convinced matured wines will one day offer a way of carving out a specific niche for their products in the overseas market.

“We hope to export this as the new Rolls Royce of Swiss wines, which would help to make all our other products well known,” Saudan told swissinfo.

But experts acknowledge that the process of introducing a new range of Swiss wines in supermarkets and restaurants both at home and abroad will take at least a decade.

“I think also we have to be realistic,” Saudan admits.

“We cannot hope to export all over the world, so we have to focus on specific areas: our first target will be Europe,” he adds.

Asked what his message would be to anyone who has yet to uncork a bottle of domestic wine, Saudan has a ready-made reply.

“My message is simple: ‘Just give Swiss wine a try once and you’ll never forget it’.”

by Ramsey Zarifeh