FOOD NEWS
Here's Why You'll Rarely See Swiss Wine In The US
BY LISA CURRAN MATTE
Although Switzerland’s wines have become world-renowned with many accolades and awards, these delicious wines can rarely be enjoyed outside the country.
Switzerland only produces about 1 million hectoliters, or approximately 27 million gallons, of wine annually, equivalent to about 5% of California’s yearly wine production.
This translates to a short supply of only about 1.08 million glasses of Swiss wine being produced each year, while the country's adult population is about 6 million.
Before the 1990s, Swiss wine merchants were producing excesses of mediocre wine, so much so that they began dumping unsold wine into empty swimming pools.
Later, Switzerland began overseeing wine production under AOC regulations; establishing wine territories; requiring training of merchants; and stipulating production standards.
While this enhanced the quality of the wine, it made production much slower and more scarce. Today, only 2% of Swiss wine is exported to other countries annually.
While importers are gaining access to more Swiss wines, and some are sure there’s a solid U.S. market, bottles remain almost impossible to find outside of their native country.