Switzerland has Zurich as its largest city and reputedly enjoys an excellent quality of life, both for residents and visitors. The climatic conditions of Switzerland differ in the country’s many areas, some of which have magnificent, majestic glaciers. Southern Switzerland has a Mediterranean climate.

The viticulture of Switzerland is recognised to go back more than 2000 years. Numerous grape varieties are grown for wine productions. Some are indigenous, whilst others are also found internationally. High-quality Swiss wines continue to receive many awards and are increasing in popularity, globally. For this quest I searched for Pinot Noir wines from Switzerland.

Weingut Fromm is much respected. Their first vintage was during 1970. The ‘classic’ Pinot Noir Village has enticing aromas, leading to a most favourable mouthfeel. I would term this as a light-bodied wine, with elegance and a long finish on the palate. Their single-vineyard Pinot Noir production, Fromm Selvenen, is most acceptable, too. Having a very good bouquet, that leads comfortably to the mouth’s pleasures of juicy fruits, this medium-bodied, delightful wine, also has a long, fruity, palate sensation and finish. 

Schlossgut Bachtobel produces splendid wines and the estate has been family-owned since 1784. Their No. 3 Pinot Noir is very popular with many wine lovers. This production, from carefully-selected grapes, gives an arousal to the nasal senses and onwards for the mouthfeel. An excellent finish, on the palate, makes this a wine that is chosen, regularly. 

Jean-René Germanier continues the passion for wines that has been ongoing from 1896. Clos de la Couta Pinot Noir has an abundance of dark, ripe fruits for the bouquet. The mouthfeel is smooth and the palate embraces the follow through, with an impressive finish. 

These high-quality Pinot Noir productions will be found at many dining occasions and are wonderful pairings with numerous dishes, including red meats, etc. This is just a selection of some of the Pinot Noir wines produced by Swiss wineries. These wines can be found at Alpine Wines and Hedonism Wines, in the UK. For all details and more information, about Swiss wines, please visit the respective websites and also swissfinewine.ch.

Images: 1. The Bündner Herrschaft home of Fromm's vineyards in the Graubünden. 2. Schlossgut Bachtobel in Weinfelden, Thurgau. 3. The high altitude (800 meters) vineyard of Clos de la Couta of Domaine JR Germanier in Valais.

About the author

Trevor Langley is a british wine and restaurant columnist. Having had a full working life in engineering and the transport industry, the author experiences great enjoyment, now, in pursuing 'avenues', which, before, he never seemed to have had the time to devote to.  Growing up, as a young boy, he found a lot of happiness helping his father in the garden, of the family home where his father grew many vegetables with a great knowledge gained over countless years and a mother who was a great cook and also looked after all of the flowers in the garden. Following his life-long career in engineering, he takes much pleasure locating places, restaurants and venues, plus finding various products, all of excellent quality, connected with cuisine and for imbibing, too.