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LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

EXPLAINED: How to drink wine like a Swiss

When foreigners think of ‘typically’ Swiss foods, cheese and chocolate naturally come to mind. Not many people know, however, that Switzerland is also a wine producing (and drinking) nation.

Published: 21 January 2022 15:19 CET
With little practice, you’ll master the art of drinking wine like the Swiss do. Photo by Zan on Unsplash
With little practice, you’ll master the art of drinking wine like the Swiss do. Photo by Zan on Unsplash

Many people abroad have no clue that Switzerland produces its own wines because, unlike cheese and chocolate, wine is not widely exported.

In fact, Switzerland exports only 1 percent of its wine. As a comparison, neighbours Italy and France sell abroad 20.8 percent and 13.6 percent of their wine production respectively – including to Switzerland.

The reason is that Switzerland’s 1,500 vintners in six wine-growing areas (Geneva, German-speaking Switzerland, Ticino, Vaud, Valais, and Three Lakes region), barely yield enough grapes to satisfy the domestic demand, much less quench the thirst of other nations.

This is where Swiss wine regions are located. Image: Switzerland Tourism

More than 250 varieties of grapes grow in Switzerland. The most popular is Chasselas (white) — a 12th-century native Swiss variety that originated on the shores of Lake Geneva.

It is still the most dominant grape of the Vaud region, where it makes up 61 percent of the total production. It’s  grown widely in the other Swiss wine regions  as well, including in Valais, where it is known as Fendant.

Chasselas is also the main grape in Switzerland’s most famous (and spectacularly picturesque) wine-growing area of Lavaux in Vaud. The terraced vineyards sloping into Lake Geneva were recognised in 2007 as the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The terraced vineyards of Lavaux. Photo: Région du Léman

Other popular varieties include Pinot Noir, Gamay, Merlot, Humagne Rouge, Arvine, Savagnin Blanc, Gamaret, Garanoir, Pinot Gris and, in Ticino, Merlot.

What wine do the Swiss like to drink most?

Like everything else in Switzerland, it depends on the canton. Or rather, on the town / village where people live — a reflection of grassroots patriotism so prevalent in this country.

As so many communities produce their own wines from local grapes, residents tend to favour regional wines, though they sometimes do buy bottles “imported” from other areas of Switzerland.

What you should know about wine drinking in Switzerland

You will probably notice that corks pop as soon as at least two people get together, often regardless of what time of the day or night it is.

If you are not a wine aficionado, you may have problems making friends in Switzerland (of course, you could have problems making friends anyway, but that’s an entirely different topic).

In fact, if you refuse a glass of wine without immediately offering medical reasons, you will be eyed suspiciously by the Swiss.

That’s because wine is not only an integral part of social interactions, but a bonding experience as well, which can’t be replicated by drinking, say, a Coke or mineral water.

This is what you should know to fit in

Not surprisingly, given how Swiss people are sticklers for the rules, there is a certain etiquette involved in wine drinking.   

To many Swiss people, French wines are, needless to say, inferior (as everything French is), and don’t even try to sell them on Italian or Spanish wines. They will, literally and figuratively, turn up their noses at them. That’s the first point.

Secondly, but just as importantly, if you drink with a Swiss friend, you don’t shout “bottoms up”, then unceremoniously chug your wine down and ask for more. You have to hold your glass by the stem, look into your friend’s eyes, preferably without blinking, for at least five seconds, then clink your glasses.

Only then can you sip your wine, praising its fragrance, aroma, depth of colour, and the Swiss region it came from.

A couple of interesting facts about Swiss wine:

  • Switzerland has the smallest vineyard in the world (you didn’t expect it to have the largest, did you?)
    Saillon, in Valais, measures 1.6 square-metres and has been owned by the Dalai Lama since 1999. 
  • It also boasts Europe’s highest vineyard. Below the village of Visperterminen, also in Valais,  lies Europe’s highest vineyard at an elevation of between 650m and 1,150m above sea level.

Cheers to that!

 EXPLAINED: Why is Switzerland so obsessed with cheese?

 

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LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

REVEALED: How Switzerland’s native-English speakers are growing in number

Some Swiss cities have higher concentrations of foreign residents than others. A new study reveals where most of them live and interestingly how more and more of them are native English-speakers.

Published: 23 April 2024 15:21 CEST
REVEALED: How Switzerland's native-English speakers are growing in number

Foreigners who move to Switzerland like to settle in the cities.

This is what emerges from a new study published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Tuesday.

Surprisingly, the municipality with the highest number of foreign residents is not Zurich or Geneva, but Kreuzlingen in canton Thurgau, where 56.3 percent of the population are foreigners.

Next is Rorschach in St. Gallen, where just over half (50.6 percent) of residents are foreign.

In terms of regions, however, more towns in the French-speaking part of the country have a high proportion of non-Swiss.

In the first place is the Lausanne suburb of Renens, where 49.3 percent of inhabitants are foreign.

It is followed by Geneva (49.2 percent) and its districts Meyrin (45.4 percent) and Vernier (44.8 percent). Next are Vaud municipalities of Montreux (44.2 percent) and Yverdon (37.7 percent).

The study doesn’t indicate why exactly so many immigrants move to these particular towns, but generally new arrivals tend to settle in or near places where they work.

Another interesting finding: English language is gaining ground

“If we consider non-national languages, it is striking to see that English has developed significantly,” FSO reports.

“It is today the main language of 8.1 percent of the resident population.”

This has also been shown in another FSO study in March, which indicated that  English is not only the most prevalent foreign language in Switzerland, but in some regions even ‘outperforms’ national languages.

In French-speaking Geneva, for instance, 11.8 percent of the population speak English — more than 5.7 percent who speak Italian. And in the neighbouring Vaud, 9.1 percent of residents speak English, versus 4.9 percent for both German and Italian.

In Basel-City, where the main language is German, 12.5 percent speak English, 6.1 percent Italian, and 5 percent French.

And in Zurich,10.8 percent speak English, versus only 5.8 percent for Italian and 3.2 percent French.

The ‘ winner’ however, is the German-speaking Zug, where 14.1 percent of the population over the age of 15 has English as their primary language. 

READ ALSO : Where in Switzerland is English most widely used? 

What else does the study reveal?

It shows to what extent Switzerland’s population ‘migrated’ from rural areas to cities over the past century.

While only a third of the country’s residents lived in urban regions 100 years ago, the 170 Swiss cities and their agglomerations are now home to three-quarters of the population.

As a result of this evolution, “new cities sprang up, many political and spatial boundaries were moved, and the country became increasingly urban.”

With a population of 427,000, Zurich is still the most populated city, followed by Geneva (204,000) and Basel (174,000).

And there is more: Fewer people practice religion

The proportion of people who feel they belong to a traditional religion is generally falling, FSO found.

This downward trend concerns all religions, but it is strongest among people of the Reformed Evangelical faith.

In six towns in particular — Bussigny, Crissier, and Ecublens (VD), Kloten, and Opfikon (ZH), as well as Oftringen (AR) — the drop was of more than 70 percent.
 
 READ ALSO: Why so many Swiss are quitting the church and taking their money with them

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