Switzerland

German Switzerland

Switzerland wine regions

About German Switzerland

German-speaking Switzerland (Deutschschweiz) covers seventeen cantons of small, scattered vineyards adding up to ~2,600 hectares. Pinot Noir leads everywhere, generally darker and more structured than in Romandie thanks to the continental climate and limestone-rich soils. The four villages of the Bündner Herrschaft in canton Graubünden (Maienfeld, Jenins, Malans, Fläsch) produce the country's most acclaimed Pinot Noir, with Gantenbein, Donatsch and Studach reaching the top tier of Alpine European wine. Schaffhausen's Klettgau district, Zürich's lake slopes, Aargau's Schinznach area, and Thurgau's Lake Constance fringe each contribute their own characters, alongside whites like Müller-Thurgau (a Swiss invention, originally bred by Hermann Müller from Thurgau in 1882), an increasingly confident Chardonnay across Zürich, Schaffhausen and Graubünden, and Completer, a near-extinct ancient grape rescued by a handful of Graubünden producers.

Switzerland wine regions

Appellations

What German Switzerland produces

Federweisser

The Swiss German name for pale, dry Pinot Noir rosé. Made across the German-speaking cantons (especially Schaffhausen and Zürich) and the regional counterpart to Romandie's Œil-de-Perdrix.

Schiller

A traditional field blend of red and white grapes, co-fermented on the skins. Pale pink-red, light, savoury; a near-extinct style preserved by a handful of growers in Zürich and Schaffhausen.

Sauser / Suuser

Partially fermented young Pinot Noir or Riesling-Sylvaner, sold during autumn harvest as a milky, low-alcohol seasonal drink. A regional tradition rather than a formal appellation.

Completer

A near-extinct ancient white grape, preserved by a handful of Graubünden producers (Donatsch, Studach, von Salis). Sharp acidity, smoky character, somewhere between aged Riesling and old Chenin. Less an appellation than a varietal rescue story.

Grapes of German Switzerland

Pinot Noir

Blauburgunder or Blauburgunder in German Switzerland

strawberryraspberryred cherryviolet

Switzerland's most acclaimed Pinot Noir district, on Jurassic limestone marl slopes warmed by the Foehn wind

Chardonnay

Body

Sweetness

Acidity

green applelemonpearnectarine

A growing share of the German-speaking cantons' whites, often barrel-aged

Completer

Body

Sweetness

Acidity

green applecitrus peelsmokeflint

An ancient white grape, rescued by a handful of Graubünden producers; sharp acid, smoky, somewhere between aged Riesling and old Chenin

Müller-Thurgau

Riesling-Sylvaner in German Switzerland

Body

Sweetness

Acidity

green applepeachlycheeelderflower

A Swiss invention (1882, Hermann Müller from Thurgau); the backbone white across German-speaking cantons

Räuschling

Body

Sweetness

Acidity

green applecitrusfresh herbswhite flowers

Near-extinct ancient white preserved by the Schwarzenbach family; floral, mineral, a lakeside specialty

Climate

ContinentalCoolVariableSheltered

Cool and continental, with vineyards surviving in sheltered pockets: lake shores, river valleys and south-facing slopes that catch what sun the north side of the Alps allows. In the Bündner Herrschaft the autumn foehn pours warmth down the young Rhine valley and ripens Pinot Noir to a depth nowhere else in German-speaking Switzerland can match.

Terroir

LimestoneJurassic marlSandstoneGlacial moraineLake terraces

Limestone rules here: the Herrschaft's vines grow on calcareous scree beneath the Falknis, Schaffhausen's Klettgau on Jurassic marl and limestone, and Zürich's slopes on sandstone and moraine. Old glacial lake terraces around Lake Constance and Lake Zürich complete a patchwork of small, scattered, mostly chalk-loving sites.

Typical Aromas

Bing cherryPomegranateForest floorStar aniseBlack teaSmoke

Explore the aroma wheel

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