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Old mills keep turning for the tourists

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 Many of the mills, like the Schwarzwaldalp sawmill between Grindelwald and Meiringen, have been resurrected as tourist attractions. The Schwarzwaldalp sawmill was erected in 1896 in order to provide the planks, boards and beams for the construction of a grand hotel. It was the Belle Époque and tourists were flocking to the region to get…

Fast facts about Swiss wine

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 Around 55 per cent of Switzerland’s production is white wine, and 45 per cent is red wine. Only one per cent of the total wine produced in Switzerland is exported, amounting to 700,000 litres a year. Switzerland’s most important wine growing regions in terms of volume are canton Valais, Vaud, Geneva and Ticino. Switzerland produces…

Swiss wine: a beginner’s guide

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 swissinfo asked several wine experts for their recommendations. “If I was at home offering Swiss wine to a guest, I’d probably reach for one of eastern Switzerland’s wonderful Pinot Noirs,” says Zurich wine journalist Erich Grasdorf. “Perhaps one of the wines produced by Hansueli Kesselring in Thurgau. “Thurgau is not a place that’s particularly well-known…

Wine technology – an ancient obsession

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 Both men work in the lakeside town of Wädenswil: Ruffner at the Swiss agricultural research centre and Koblet at the nearby museum of winegrowing. The six hectares of vineyard cultivated by the research centre produce one of the most diverse crops in Switzerland. Since Ruffner’s team is charged with investigating the strengths and weaknesses of…

Ticino winemakers gear up for rich pickings

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 Around 70 per cent of wine production comes from the Merlot grape, but Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Semillon and Cabernet Sauvignon are also popular. Freddie Martin, a winemaker for Guido Brivio, one of Ticino’s biggest wine producers, tastes and compares dozens of wines a day to decide on the final blend – or assemblage – of…

Sipping in the city – Zurich’s urban vineyards

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 Less well known though is the city’s contribution to the Swiss wine-making industry. With 615 hectares of grapes, the canton of Zurich is the largest wine-producing region in eastern Switzerland and the sixth most important in the country as a whole. And although the vast majority of Zurich’s wines come from the canton’s rural fringe,…

Swiss Life in talks to sell Banca del Gottardo

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 Swiss Life, which has been trying to sell the bank for some time, said that it expected negotiations to be completed in the next few weeks. The company, which has gone through a painful restructuring programme after a record loss of SFr1.69 billion ($1.36 billion) in 2002, said the consortium also included swissfirst bank and…

Valais vines reach for the summits

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 Canton Valais not only has more 4,000 metre peaks than any other region of the Alps, it also boasts Switzerland’s largest winegrowing region, with 5,200 hectares of vineyards. Two things catch the eye while travelling along the Rhône River that cuts through the heart of the canton: the terraced vineyards claiming the northern slopes and…

A century of pioneering railway achievement

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 A special event marked the 100th anniversary of the conquest of the infamous Eiger peak by mechanical means. When the dozens of prominent guests got out of the train in the tunnel at the Eiger Wall Station on a Saturday late in June, they were treated for nostalgic reasons to the sound of drilling. It…

North-South rail link will be “faster than flying”

This content was published on Jan 21, 2004 When the whole line is finished in 2015, the current journey time from Zurich to Milan will be halved. Switzerland’s involvement in the project is part of its commitment to build two new transalpine rail links: one at the Gotthard, and the other at the Lötschberg in canton Bern. The aim is to ease the…

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Cluster: Archive

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Old mills keep turning for the tourists

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Fast facts about Swiss wine

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Swiss wine: a beginner’s guide

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Wine technology – an ancient obsession

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Ticino winemakers gear up for rich pickings

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Sipping in the city – Zurich’s urban vineyards

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Swiss Life in talks to sell Banca del Gottardo

More

Valais vines reach for the summits

More

A century of pioneering railway achievement

More

North-South rail link will be “faster than flying”

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