Vaud, Switzerland's second most important wine Canton, is where Chasselas, the French outcast grape, seems to have found ideal conditions; chalky limestone soils, underlying alkaline earth, and a nurturing climate. It is in Vaud that the finest Chasselas wines are found, including the prestigious Dézaley.
Although the Chasselas grape accounts for over 80% of plantings, you will also find Pinot noir, Gamay, a humbled Chardonnay, and Pinot gris.
An old red grape variety well known in neighboring Savoie, Mondeuse is a rarity found in scattered plots in Chablais (Vaud).
This is the variety that produces all the Beaujolais wines. Later-ripening than Pinot Noir, Gamay is very widespread in the western, French-speaking part of Switzerland. But it is in Geneva that it has become the dominant red variety. Produced as a varietal in Geneva or blended with Pinot Noir in Vaud (Salvagnin) and Valais (Dôle), Gamay produces lively, light wines with vivacious aromas of freshly picked red fruits. These wines are best consumed young
A classic international variety, Cabernet Sauvignon is marginally cultivated in Geneva, Vaud, Valais, and Ticino. With changing climate there are growers, at least in Zurich, planting Cabernet Sauvignon. Besides being vinified as a varietal, it is blended with other Bordeaux grape varieties, or with old Valais varieties.
Aligoté, a crossing of Pinot noir and Gouais blanc, originates from Burgundy and spread throughout France. It’s cold tolerant and ripens early, but is susceptible to fungal disease.
Called “Plant du Rhin” when it was brought to Geneva in the early 1900s, it is now something of a specialty in Geneva giving us an acidic, refreshing wine. It can be drunk young.
When blended, Aligoté adds acidity and structure to a wine.
