Wine region
Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland’s third-largest wine canton: about 1,300 hectares, Gamay and Chasselas, Satigny as the largest wine commune, the first Swiss AOC.
- Vineyard area
- about 1,300 hectares, about 9 per cent of Switzerland
- Main grapes
- Gamay, Chasselas, Pinot Noir, Gamaret, Chardonnay
- Climate
- temperate between the Jura and the Pre-Alps, moderated by Lake Geneva, dried by the bise wind
- Signature wines
- Gamay and Gamaret from the Mandement, Chasselas, Chardonnay
- Landmark
- Satigny, Switzerland’s largest wine commune with over 400 hectares
With about 1,300 hectares of vines, Geneva is Switzerland’s third-largest wine canton even though it is one of the smallest cantons; about 9 per cent of the Swiss vineyard lies here. The vines do not grow on the lakeshore but on the gentle hills around the city, on gravel, moraine and limestone. The Jura to the north-west and the Pre-Alps to the south-east create a temperate climate, Lake Geneva evens out the temperatures, and the bise, the cold north-easterly wind, keeps the grapes dry and healthy. The vineyard falls into three parts: the Mandement on the right bank of the Rhône with about 790 hectares, the area between the Arve and the Rhône with about 300, and the area between the Arve and the lake with about 280 hectares.
In the Mandement lies Satigny, which with its villages of Peissy, Choully and Bourdigny farms more than 400 hectares of vines and is therefore the largest wine commune in Switzerland. Since 2010 the vines in the French border zone whose grapes become Geneva AOC wines have also been counted in the Swiss vineyard. In 1988 Geneva was the first canton to adopt a controlled appellation of origin; today, alongside AOC Genève, some two dozen Premiers Crus are tied to communes or named sites.
Just over half the area is red. Gamay, with about a fifth, is the most planted variety, closely followed by Chasselas; then come Pinot Noir, Gamaret and Chardonnay. Long a source of simple, light wines, Geneva has since the 1990s become the most experimental region in the country: about 47 varieties are grown, among them Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Merlot and Cabernet. Gamaret, bred in 1970 at the federal research station in Pully from Gamay and Reichensteiner, is especially widespread here and gives dark, spicy wines with soft tannins; its sibling Garanoir comes from the same cross.
Geneva’s viticulture has a long history: in the Middle Ages the city was surrounded by vines, and the Reformation, with its influx of refugees, increased demand. Today about 130 estates work in the canton, many selling directly, and the open cellars in spring draw thousands of city dwellers out to the villages every year.
What to drink: a fruity Gamay or a Gamaret with longeole, the Geneva pork sausage, and with cardoons, a Chasselas with fillets of perch from the lake, a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc with cheese fondue, a Pinot Noir with poultry.