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Which Swiss canton produces the most wine?

Which Swiss canton produces the most wine?

While the Swiss wine industry is smaller than that of France, the US and Australia, it is still home to a huge diversity of different grapes and varieties. Now, a new study by Blick has discovered the Swiss cantons with the largest vineyards, and which wines are produced the most.

The largest wine regions in Switzerland revealed

While every canton has its own vineyards, some areas are much more popular than others. The study by Blick analysed how much land in each region is given over to the production of wine. In all, the newspaper found that there are 14.748 hectares of vineyards in Switzerland - around 147,48 square kilometres or over 18.000 football fields.

The smallest wine-producing canton was found to be Glarus. Nestled in the Swiss mountains, the stunningly beautiful region only has 18 hectares of vineyards - a mere 25 football fields.

More than two-thirds of Swiss wine made in the west

The study found that more than two-thirds of Swiss vineyards are in just four different cantons, all of which are situated on the western side of the Röstigraben. The largest wine-producing region of Switzerland is Canton Valais, with 4.732 hectares or one-third of all the vineyards in Switzerland. Around 60 percent of Valais wines are red grape varieties, the most popular being Pinot noir, Cornalin du Valais and Humagne Rouge.

Canton Vaud - home to the stunning Lavaux wine region near Lausanne - was second on the list with 25 percent of Swiss vineyards. With most vineyards situated on the banks of Lake Geneva, the most cultivated grape in the region are white wines, most notably Chasselas, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Doral.

Vaud was followed by Geneva, with 1.374 hectares or 10 percent of all vineyards in the country. Canton Ticino rounded out the top four, with Blick noting that 90 percent of the Italian Canton's vines are red wine varieties.

Jan de Boer

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Jan de Boer

Jan studied in York and Sheffield in the UK, obtaining a master's in broadcast journalism and a bachelor's in history. He has worked as a radio DJ, TV presenter, and...

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