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Swiss residents quaff less domestic wine

Malcolm Curtis
Malcolm Curtis - [email protected]
Swiss residents quaff less domestic wine
Photo: Switzerland Tourism

Swiss residents are drinking less wine, particularly home grown vintages, according to the latest government figures which indicate historic lows in per capita consumption.

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Despite a rising population, the overall amount of wine quaffed in 2014 fell 2.8 percent to 264 million litres from the previous year, the federal agriculture office said in a report issued on Tuesday.

Swiss wines were particularly hard hit, with consumption dropping 8.2 percent to 98 million litres, the office said.

Domestic producers have lost market share to cheaper products from neighbouring European countries such as France, Italy and Spain.

The amount of imported wine drunk increased 1.6 percent to 168 million litres.

Swiss winemakers saw an 8.8 percent drop in red wine, with residents last year drinking more domestic white wine than red, the report said.

The figures reflect the continuation of a downward trend in wine drinking that was interrupted in 2013 when consumption went up.

One contributing factor for the reduction in domestic wines consumed was the lower than average grape harvests in Switzerland over the past two years, the agriculture office said.

Swiss vineyards covered a total area of 14,835 hectares in 2014, 48 hectares less than in the previous year.

Despite the growing preference for Swiss white wine, red grape varieties accounted for 58 percent of the country’s vines.

The canton of Valais is the biggest wine grower, with almost 5,000 hectares under cultivation, followed by the cantons of Vaud (3,778), Geneva (1,408) and Ticino (1,090).

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