{"id":2110,"date":"2016-10-03T19:16:25","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T00:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/?p=2110"},"modified":"2019-01-05T18:37:15","modified_gmt":"2019-01-06T00:37:15","slug":"theres-wine-switzerland-swiss-wine-tasting-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2016\/10\/theres-wine-switzerland-swiss-wine-tasting-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"There’s Wine in Switzerland! – A Swiss Wine Tasting Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Husband has had a thing for Switzerland for some time now. I think it\u2019s the whole being a banker thing. Whatever it is, as the family \u201ctravel agent\u201d I was on it. As he had no preference for where he wanted to go, I was all about finding some new wines to try. I\u2019d heard a bit here and there about Swiss wines but didn\u2019t know a lot and certainly hadn\u2019t tasted one. I found out later that the Swiss only export about 2% of their wine which is why most of us have never had one. I knew we would be traveling from Paris (you did read all about the fun in Champagne<\/a> and the wine at The Eiffel Tower<\/a>, right?), so I had to keep in mind what made sense logistically.<\/p>\n Doing a bit of research, I was able to find out a bit more about the Swiss wine industry. Wine was initially brought to the Geneva area by the Romans. There are six primary regions that produce wine \u2013 Geneva, German Swiss, Ticino, Three Lakes, Valais, and Vaud \u2013 and most of these regions have sub-regions. The main grapes produced are Chesselas and M\u00fcller-Thurgau, which are white varieties and Merlot, Gamay, and Blauburgunder which are red. Chesselas, which is an indigenous variety, is the most widely produced white while Blauburgunder, also known as Pinot Noir is the dominant red variety. Given that the country is surrounded by France, Germany, and Italy, the wines themselves take on some of the characteristics of the wines from those countries. Once upon a time, more white wine was produced in Switzerland, but today red wine production exceeds white. To find out more about the wines and the regions, visit the folks at Swiss Wine<\/a>.<\/p>\n As someone who leans a little red, I\u2019ll admit that when I saw that the red grape varieties dominate in the German Swiss region, I sorta chose my spot in Switzerland based on this. And when I saw that Blauburgunder\/Pinot Noir is the most planted variety in the region, it became a no-brainer. Always chasing the wine.<\/p>\n The German Swiss region is so named as most of the eighteen sub-regions are in the German-speaking part of the country. Those sub-regions fall within three discrete areas \u2013 one of which is the eastern part of the country near the German border and includes the cantons of Graub\u00fcnden and St. Gallen. So off to the Graub\u00fcnden we went. Graub\u00fcnden is located in the Rhine River Valley and is breathtaking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s wine has been compared to that of Burgundy and actually sits on the same parallel as the French region – but just significantly above sea level. All of the grapes are grown on slopes and actually cannot be grown on flat land. Due to the higher elevations and cooler temperatures, harvest usually occurs in October.<\/p>\n We based ourselves in Zurich and really enjoyed the city.<\/p>\n