The Alps are known for their ski resorts and melted, cheesy dishes like raclette or fondue, but they also produce wine.
Swiss Alpine Wines
I lived in Switzerland for 3 years, so I was able to taste a lot of local Alpine wines. It’s a wine region that is rarely on anyone’s radar. They only export 1-2% of their wine, and even while living in Switzerland, Swiss wines don’t have the best price-quality ratio compared to the plenty of other European wine options available in their markets. Unlike mountain grown wines in California and Chile, where being higher up means getting more sunlight boldness above the fog line but also cooler temperatures to give it acidic structure, Swiss and other Alpine wines (especially the reds) often lack the sunlight to achieve the ripeness to have more mass appeal. However, the wines are well-made and obviously can excel with cool-climate red varieties and whites.
Switzerland is best known for its Chasselas, which is sort of like Chardonnay in that it can come in many different styles. There are also German white varieties like Riesling. Pinot Gris, etc. The most common reds are Pinot Noir, Gamay, Syrah and sometimes Merlot (especially from Ticino). There are also a bunch of lesser known varieties like Gamaret, Cornalin, Garanoir and Diolinoir among others along with different local names for some varieties. For example, Fendant is another label for Chasselas.
The various wine regions essentially match the names of the Canton they’re in. I lived in Geneva, so I drank a lot of Vaud and Geneva wines. The Valais is the most common region you’ll find in the market. Ticino, in the Italian part of Switzerland, gets more sunlight, so hence their flagship is Merlot. Graubunden is known for Pinot Noir. Neuchatel is known for their oeil-de-perdrix rosés, which is said to have inspired the White Zinfandel style. If we ever move back to Switzerland, I’ll have to explore more of the other regions.
Other Alpine Wines
I just did a post about Trentino-Alto Adige wines, which is probably the most known and sought after Alpine wine. However, there are other Italian Alps wine regions like Lugano, Aosta, and Valtellina, which is known for its local Nebbiolo. There’s also the Savoie region in France, which is what the French reach for when they have melted cheese dishes. Technically, the Jura mountains are not a part of the Alps range, but they’re just on the other side of Geneva, so there’s some connection to that wine region too. The Alps certainly influence Austrian wines too, especially the areas of Bergland and Styria, where they make higher altitude wines. Here’s a good map of the Alpine Wine Regions.
The Tasting
We planned a raclette dinner, so I decided to look for some Alpine wines. I found two from Aosta from grape varieties I had never tried before. One is Prié Blanc, which is a white variety well adapted to its high elevation, cool climate. It’s also ungrafted because it was resistant to Phylloxera. They’re usually clean, dry and crisp white wines. The other is Premetta, or sometimes called Prié Rouge. It’s a thin-skinned red variety often used for rosés. In addition, I found an aged Swiss white made from Païen, which is the local name for Savagnin, which is more famous in the Jura wine region.
Tasting Notes
2023 Grosjean Premetta Valle d’Aosta
Premetta variety. Only stainless steel. No wood. Super light almost rosé color. Shy nose. Red fruit with a touch of herbal notes. Light, red strawberry fruit and not much else. Medium-low acid. Light bodied. Low alcohol. Some really liked it for its light and fruity nature. No complaints, but not complex enough to rate it higher. 87
2013 Cave du Vieux-Moulin Romain Papilloud Paien Valais
The color is darkish gold. The nose shows mild oak with the fruit more in the background. The palate is impressive though. It’s medium plus bodied, round and super smooth with medium-low acid. Ripe apple and peach fruit. Rich on the palate with good length and intensity. Barely any tertiary notes yet, so if you like more of that, it can age even longer.. 92
2023 Cave Mont Blanc de Morgex et La Salle Blanc Vallee d’Aosta
Made from Prié Blanc. Light pale yellow color. Slightly fizzy. The nose is shy. Some fruit, yeast and herbal notes. Palate is rather simple and fruity. A bit of minerality. Medium-low acid. Light-bodied. I was expecting it to be fresher as an Alpine wine. 87