Think of wine while in Europe, and France, Spain and Italy come to mind. Switzerland is better known for its cheese and chocolates. However, the Alpine slopes are dotted with terraced vineyards in six major wine-growing regions. Some of these are family owned and date back centuries, but the country has chosen to keep its exceptional wines at home and export just one percent of the produce. A vineyard tour is a great way to discover this virtually unknown wine paradise.
Nestled between gleaming Lake Murten and the hilly slopes of Mont Vully in western Switzerland, the small, picturesque village of Praz is home to just 400 residents and six winemakers. The region grows approximately 45 grape varieties, with Pinot noir and Sauvignon blanc being the most popular.
It is a sunny day, perfect for the grape harvest. The rows of fruit-laden vines seem endless, the lake glitters ahead and the village houses look like tiny dots against this beautiful backdrop. In a lush vineyard on the estate of Cave Guillod SA, owner Cédric Guillod hands me a yellow box and a pair of long-nosed scissors. “The secret of why my grandfather lived to be a hundred years old is that he drank a glass of wine every day,” Guillod says with a smile. His family has been growing grapes and producing wines here for four generations, since 1931.
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I take a deep breath to enjoy the incredible view and get to work. I go snip-snap, carefully cutting off the stem so I don’t damage the grapes. After half an hour I’m tired, but my box is only half full, and I realize how much time and effort it takes to make a glass of wine.
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White wine at Tenuta Castello di Morcote (Courtesy of Egle Berruti)
My hard work has led to hunger pangs; luckily an inviting table with a view of the lake lures me. It’s time to taste some wines from this vineyard. The first is a fresh white wine that is a blend of Pinot gris and Chasselas, made in 2022. This is paired with Gâteau du Vully, a delicious local bread that resembles focaccia. Made by Guillod’s mother, topped with bacon and sprinkled with cumin.
A red wine follows, Gaia, rich in spicy notes. Guillod tells me that Chasselas is an ancient grape variety that grows in the Vaud, Valais and Geneva regions and is little known outside Switzerland. These delicate grapes, which are exclusive to the Alpine slopes, produce subtle and elegant wines that are a local favourite.
Dinner is in a candlelit wine cellar in the 16th century Château Salavaux in Vully, where I am staying. The dishes, prepared with local products, are accompanied by even more local wine.
The next day I go out to explore another wine region with a completely different atmosphere: the canton of Ticino, bordering Italy in the south of Switzerland. The journey is as memorable as the destination. I board the Vigezzina-Centovalli Railway, a narrow-gauge train from the small town of Domodossola, Italy, which chugs along at a leisurely pace, covering more than fifty kilometers in two hours. The incredibly scenic drive winds through wild chestnut forests, vineyard-covered slopes and waterfalls and passes over 83 bridges and viaducts.
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My home here is a charming village, Vico Morcote, 200 meters above Lake Lugano. It is considered one of Switzerland’s rustic gems, where nature and history blend seamlessly. I check in at Relais Castello di Morcote, a former 17th-century monastery converted into a 12-room hotel that overlooks the vast expanse of the lake. The next morning, a 10-minute walk from the hotel takes me to the family-run Tenuta Castello di Morcote, a sprawling 150-acre farm and wine estate surrounded by the lake and home to the 15th-century Morcote Castle. It was built in the 14th century on the site of a Roman watchtower and is the only remaining medieval fortress in this region. As I stroll through the estate and reach the castle, I am told that the Roman well from the time of the watchtower is still intact.
I walk into the wine tasting room and get a tour of the wine cellar, which is full of steel tanks and oak barrels. The owners, Gaby Gianini, one of Switzerland’s best-known winemakers, and her husband Maurizio, are passionate about the vineyard started by Gaby’s grandfather, Massimo. The vineyard produces approximately 60,000 bottles per year, mainly Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The grapes are harvested by hand and all wines are organic and biodynamic, meaning they follow a holistic and natural approach to farming and post-harvest processing. Of the wines I taste, the Rubino, a 50% Merlot, stands out for its aroma of pepper and fruity hints of cherries and figs.
Over lunch in Morcote, Gianini gives me the answer to the question I have been asking since my arrival here: why does Switzerland not export more of its wines. Most vineyards have been passed down from generation to generation and the families want travelers and visitors to taste their produce where it is grown and produced, rather than miles away. That makes sense: with the Swiss Alps and a beautiful lake in the background, the personal approach of the growers who explain their process and production, the wine takes on a new note. I promise myself I’ll come back – definitely for the wine, and maybe for the cheese and chocolate too.
Pallavi Pasricha is an independent journalist from Delhi.
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Most vineyards have been passed down from generation to generation and the families want travelers and visitors to taste their products where they are grown.
Pallavi Pasricha is an independent journalist.
Also read: Visit the wonder women of Washington DC