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Industry fears for Swiss wine’s market share

Winegrowers in Switzerland are concerned that a low volume grape harvest for the third successive year could mean Swiss wine loses out to foreign competitors on supermarket shelves.

Published: 7 August 2015 11:56 CEST
Industry fears for Swiss wine’s market share
Photo: Marcus Gyger/Switzerland Tourism

The dry, hot summer means wine fans can look forward to a high-quality vintage this year, however the quantity of wine produced could be below average, industry figures told the Tribune de Genève.

The volume depends not just on the size of the grapes – which, due to the heat, are small and concentrated with sugar – but also the number of bunches produced on the vine.

In the canton of Vaud, Switzerland’s second largest wine producing canton, the volume of wine is set to be below average, Gilles Cornut, president of a Vaud wine association, told the paper.

He predicts a total 23.7 million litres of Vaud wine, more than in 2013, when hail damaged the harvest, but less than last year’s 24.7 million.

The harvest may also be reduced due to the damage caused by last year’s widespread use of Moon Privilege, a fungicide produced by German company Bayer which is thought to have stunted the growth of vines and is currently under investigation.

The prospect of a third successive below-average volume is causing many winegrowers to worry, said the paper.

Speaking to the paper, Alain Leder, director of wine shop Obrist in Vevey, said: “Lower quantities mean that less wine will be available for promotions in the big distributors. Vaud wine risks losing its place on the shelves of big supermarkets and in the heart of consumers.”

Last year the sale of Swiss wine in big supermarkets went down by 2.7 percent compared with 2013, according to Swiss wine market observers.

Total consumption of Swiss wine in Switzerland fell by 8.1 percent, while the purchase of foreign wines rose by 1.6 percent.

But winegrowers are yet to see the full impact of a low-volume harvest.

In the mean time, they are focusing on the high quality of grapes.

“When the grape is smaller, there is more skin than normal in relation to juice. That gives flavour,” Vaud winegrower Raymond Paccot told the newspaper.

The industry is preparing for an earlier than usual harvest this year, probably in mid-September, due to the hot weather.

Switzerland has 15,000 hectares of vines and produced 93 million litres of wine last year.

Almost of all it is consumed domestically, with only around one percent exported.

The Swiss consume 31 litres of wine per person per year, according to Marketing body Swiss Wine Promotion.

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WINE

What is Switzerland’s ‘one franc vineyards’ scheme – and is it legit?

When news broke of vineyards being offered in the southwest of Switzerland for one franc, many asked if it was too good to be true. Here's what you need to know about the scheme (and how much a vineyard will actually cost you).

Published: 17 May 2022 13:21 CEST
Updated: 16 June 2022 16:03 CEST
What is Switzerland's 'one franc vineyards' scheme - and is it legit?

Earlier in Spring, news broke of a new scheme where Swiss vineyards were available for just one franc. 

As with similar stories offering one franc plots of land or houses, the news spread far and wide – which of course was the point – while some eventually became disappointed. 

READ MORE: Gambarogno: The latest Swiss village to sell houses for one franc

While it’s likely to cost you a good deal more than one franc, if owning a Swiss vineyard (or at least part of it) is on your bucket list, you now have an opportunity to do so. 

Why are Swiss vineyards going cheap?

With nearly 5,000 hectares of vineyards and 60 different grape varieties, Valais is Switzerland’s largest wine-growing region.

Unfortunately, 20 percent of the canton’s vines are abandoned and municipalities must uproot them because they can’t find people willing to cultivate them.

A case in point is the community of Savièse, nestled in a picturesque Alpine valley. About 120 plots — four to five hectares — of  its vineyards were abandoned by their owners and therefore not harvested last year, as the commune can’t find people to do the work.

This is a serious case of neglect because “when a vine is not pruned, there is a period of one year to uproot it. Otherwise, there is a risk of spreading disease”, according to Savièse’s mayor, Sylvain Dumoulin.

“There are some vines where we need to do this now, and I fear the number will increase in the future”, he added.

How much does a plot cost?

In order to protect its winemaking traditions in general and abandoned plots in particular, the municipality has launched a new vines-saving project which includes a “stock exchange” of sorts for the sale and purchase of abandoned parcels.

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: How to drink wine like a Swiss

Dumoulin didn’t reveal the cost of a plot of vineyard, as it depends on its location, condition and other factors.

Unfortunately, while you may have seen articles reporting that parcels are being sold for “a symbolic one franc”, this is more than likely a marketing ploy to attract attention than a realistic price.

Savièse’s vineyards. Screenshot, Savièse.ch

“The main long-term objective is to encourage the grouping of plots and thus the rationalisation of the exploitation of these parcels”, Dumoulin told The Local.

He added that currently the project is “exclusively accessible for people who already own vineyards. But from July it will be open to anyone with an interest in purchasing vineyard areas”.

From then on, “anyone can download the application to find plots of vines for sale and to make their owner a price proposal”. 

The app, called “Vignoble Savièse” can be purchased in Apple or Google stores.

One example of such a gimmick was the Ticino town of Gambarogno, located on the shores of Lake Maggiore, which offered houses for one franc.

‘Impossible’: Why Switzerland’s one franc homes are too good to be true

As The Local reported, “the news – along with pictures of the Ticino countryside and the lake itself – spread across the globe, with people inside and outside of Switzerland letting themselves dream”. 

However, the “rustic houses with the view of the lake” turned out to be nothing more than ruins, with no roofs, windows, electricity or running water, situated in remote locations — about an hour’s walk from the nearest village. 

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