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Graubünden: Sublimated by the Foehn

paysage montagneux et brume dans les Grisons

The “Bündner Herrschaft” is one of the most prestigious wine-growing regions in Switzerland. It arouses interest beyond our borders.

It is not without modesty that producers nickname their vineyards “ the Burgundy of Switzerland”. The vineyards of the “Herrschaft”, of the upper Rhine valley near Chur and the Mesocco on the Ticino border cover a total of 452 ha, making Graubünden the third wine-producing canton of German-speaking Switzerland.

One canton, three regions

The foehn, a southerly wind which blows in the valleys of Graubünden, ensures dry and warm autumn days, optimal for ripening the grapes. The Graubünden vineyards which extend along the banks of the Rhine are divided into 3 distinct regions:

The “Bündner Herrschaft” which includes the municipalities of Fläsch, Maienfeld, Jenins, and Malans.

The “Churer Rheintal” which extends along the Rhine from Landquart to Reichenau.

Mesocco , a remarkable small exotic vineyard that is often associated with Ticino.

This Alpine valley was formed by the Rhine glacier and was filled with lake deposits, gravels and river excrement cones giving an interesting variety of soil structures. For example, in Malans clayey scree predominates while going towards Jenins and Maienfeld, the clay decreases and in Fläsch we find mainly limestone soils. These variations give a specific character to the wines of each of these villages.

The wines of Grisons are mainly vinified as single grape varieties and the reds very often benefit from aging in barrels.

Originally, only white grape varieties such as Elbling, Grüner Veltliner and Completer were grown in the Graubünden Rhine Valley. A major change took place in 1630. The Duke of Rohan introduced Pinot Noir , then called the Burgundy grape. From then on it quickly established itself there and became the main grape variety.

The main grape variety grown is Pinot Noir.

Today red grape varieties cover 349 ha, including 305 of Pinot Noir. In the Mesocco to the south of Graubünden, as in neighboring Ticino, the main grape variety grown is Merlot . White grape varieties represent 103 ha. Among them, quantitatively, Riesling-Silvaner comes first but the most famous white wines are produced from Chardonnay . Not to be forgotten, the native grape variety, Completer. Known for its high acidity, this grape variety is rather difficult to vinify. It only represents around one percent of the wine-growing area of Graubünden (4.7ha). The Completer was mentioned for the first time in 1321. It probably takes its name from Compline (in Latin completorium), the last religious service during which the monks had to remain silent, but were entitled to a glass of wine. Winegrowers of Graubünden are committed to sustainable production. The Grisons wine inter-professional association has set itself the objective of cultivating at least 80% of its vines without herbicides and 60% organically by 2020. To do this they have set up the “Bio-vision 2020” project. of Graubünden.

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