The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Bad weather boosts grape theft in Swiss vineyards

Police patrol in vineyards
The commune of Chamoson has set up patrols with local police to try and stop record grape thefts. Some winegrowers have lost part of their crop due to bad weather but others are doing better. Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

Since the start of the vine harvest in September, around 1.5 tonnes of grapes have been stolen in the winegrowing canton of Valais, police say.

Police spokesman Stève Léger told public broadcaster RTS on Friday that seven grape thefts have been reported so far.

Worst hit is Chamoson, the largest wine-producing municipality in Valais, where vineyard access has been restricted at the request of the farmers’ union.

“The winegrowers, fearing that the temptation to steal is too great, have asked the commune to take measures,” said union president Claude Crittin.

It is now forbidden to walk between the rows of vines, but the official through-paths are still open. Nightly surveillance rounds have also been introduced.

The harvest is expected to be smaller and more patchy in 2021, due to bad weather. Thefts of grapes are noted every year in the Valais vineyards, but this year they are at record levels.

Frost, hail and mildew have hit crops, but while some winegrowers have lost part of their grapes, others are currently having “good harvests”, according to the cantonal viticulture office.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Porrentruy swimming pool: the town's mayor was not expecting such controversy

More

Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy

This content was published on The mayor of the Swiss town of Porrentruy, which has been in the headlines in neighbouring France after restricting access to a pool to locals after a spate of anti-social behaviour, says he has received much support in recent days.

Read more: Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy
Trained on the “Alps” supercomputer at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, the new LLM marks a milestone in open-source AI and multilingual excellence, according to its developers.

More

Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme

This content was published on This summer researchers at Swiss universities will make available a large language model (LLM), an AI programme trained on vast amounts of data, developed on public infrastructure.

Read more: Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme
Zurich cantonal police introduce fixed online police stations

More

Zurich introduces online police station

This content was published on After a one-year test phase, Zurich's cantonal police are introducing an online police station. Demand is high and the response from the public has been positive.

Read more: Zurich introduces online police station
St. Moritz registers the summer as a brand

More

St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark

This content was published on The chic resort of St Moritz in southeastern Switzerland has registered "summer" as a trademark under the name "St Summer". The resort in canton Graubünden is launching a campaign to strengthen its summer business.

Read more: St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark
House prices rose sharply in June

More

Swiss house prices rose sharply in June

This content was published on The prices of homes and apartments in Switzerland rose again in June. In the Lake Geneva region, prices of detached houses rose sharply. Meanwhile, in Zurich and its surrounding region the opposite trend was observed.

Read more: Swiss house prices rose sharply in June

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR