| The consumption of wine in Switzerland fell again last year, according to figures published last Thursday by the Federal Agriculture Office. The Swiss drank 270 million litres of wine in 2006. This was lower by 2.4% than 273 million litres consumed in 2005.
The corresponding figures for 2004 were 282 million litres. The total amount consumed in 2006 was down for both Swiss wine (-4 per cent) and foreign wine (- 1.6 per cent).
Figures in the report Wine Year 2006 show that consumers drank almost equal amount of red and white Swiss wines at 51 million litres each.
"One of the main reasons for the decline is the influence of the very stringent alcohol limit for drivers, of 0.5 milligrams per millilitre blood.
"People consume wine less far away from home. Restaurateurs have had the intelligence to counter this by offering wine by the glass," says Christophe Venetz, head of marketing at the Interprofession umbrella organisation of vintners in the canton of Valais.
Venetz noted that another trend was for people to drink wines that were of higher quality. Commenting on the reduction, he added, "It's also a global phenomenon. It's not only in Switzerland that wine consumption is declining," he added.
Wine producing areas: Valais is the main wine-producing region of Switzerland with vines covering 5,136 hectares.
Vaud is in second place with grapes over 3,851 hectares, followed by Geneva with 1,288 hectares.
Wine is also produced to a lesser extent in Ticino (1,036 hectares), around Zurich (619), Neuchâtel (596) and Schaffhausen (472).
Wine imports: The Swiss prefer imported wines from Italy and France . Their sales topped 60 million and 50 million litres respectively last year. Spanish wines are in third place with 30 million litres sold. In fourth place come the wines from the United States (5 million litres), followed by Portugal, Australia, Germany, Chile and South Africa.
Decline in the consumption of Swiss wines last year can be explained by the trend in restaurants to offer more foreign wines which are cheaper. At the top end of the market Swiss wines remain quite affordable. In Valais, it is rare that a wine costs more than SFr25 ($20.6) direct from the vintner. It's difficult to find wines at the same price for wines from Burgundy or Italy.
Grape Varietals: Vineyards with the Pinot noir grapes continue to be the most popular in Switzerland , covering an area of 4,490 hectares, while those with Chasselas and Müller-Thurgau grapes are on the decline. New red grapes being introduced are Gamaret, Merlot and Garanoir
Exports: Swiss wines are not exported in a big way, primarily because of the small quantities produced by the vineyards. More details at: http://www.swissinfo.org |
