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Switzerland's chance to shine with the first Swiss Wine Week

Switzerland's chance to shine with the first Swiss Wine Week

We have had days dedicated to a whole raft of grape varieties over the years, but never before has there been a whole week focused just on promoting wines from Switzerland. Here we talk to Simon Hardy who is helping to co-ordinate a number of events, tastings and special restaurant promotions in the UK to mark Swiss Wine Week, being organised by Swiss Wine Promotion, which is also being celebrated in Singapore, Belgium and Germany during November. Here’s how you can get involved.

Richard Siddle
25th October 2024by Richard Siddle
posted in Tasting,

You are organising what you claim is the first Swiss Wine Week - what do you have planned?

Swiss Wine Week is a new concept being rolled out by Swiss Wine Promotion in key export markets including London for the first time between November 16 to 22. It is designed to introduce Swiss wine to an international audience and promote its quality and diversity, while creating unique experiences for wine lovers. The programme of events includes masterclasses, tastings and promotions in hospitality and independent retail.

Swiss Wine Promotion is the national promotion body for Swiss wines. SWP is mandated by the Interprofession de la Vigne et du Vin Suisse (IVVS) to promote the image of Swiss wines in Switzerland and abroad.

Why did you want to dedicate a week to Swiss Wine?

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Swiss Wine Week is the first of its kind to be held in the UK and other countries around the world

It is well-known that Swiss wines have a fairly small share of the market so, in order to achieve greater impact, Swiss Wine Promotion decided to take a new approach and concentrate all its activities in this market in a single week of the year.

This is also part of a global promotion to push Swiss wine with other events happening in other markets - what is happening elsewhere?

The relatively new concept of Swiss Wine Week was first launched last year in New York and has been extended to Singapore, Belgium and Germany. Also, let’s not forget Switzerland itself where a campaign of Swiss Wine Weeks is running throughout the autumn to showcase the country's rich viticultural heritage at local wine shops.

You have a number of partners involved in Swiss Wine Week - who are they and what do they bring to the initiative?

  • Events are taking place at the Institute of Masters of Wine and the London school of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, the two world-leaders in wine education based here.
  • For the first time, Swiss Wine will be pouring several award-winning wines at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter.
  • 67 Pall Mall, which has been a consistent supporter of Switzerland, will be the focal point for a variety of events.
  • The Swiss Embassy is hosting a special launch event for partners, supporters and media.a
  • Switzerland Tourism is currently highlighting Swiss Wine Week in all its UK communications.
  • Swiss wines will be in the spotlight at leading partner restaurants including Claude Bosi at Bibendum, The Fat Duck, Morston Hall and Cherwell Boathouse, while retail partners include Alpine Wines, Hedonism Wines and The Sampler.
  • The main UK importers of Swiss wines are all actively involved: Alpine Wines, Best of Wines, Buckingham Schenk Family, Gauntleys Fine Wines, Origin Wine and SUI Wine Imports.
  • A new ‘Swiss Wine Finder’ online tool has been introduced by Swiss Wine Promotion making it easier to see who is selling Swiss wine in the UK.
  • Fitting Wines, of which I am the founder, has been planning and organising the whole week in collaboration with Swiss Wine Promotion and the many local partners.

What specific events and masterclasses are you hosting?

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Some of the events taking place during Swiss Wine Week

Details for each event can be found at https://www.swisswineweek.com/en/united-kingdom

  • Saturday 16: “Discover Switzerland’s Finest Wines” at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter at The Landmark
  • Monday 18 (AM): “The Best Wines of the 2014 vintage” at 67 Pall Mall - by invitation - presented by Swiss Wine Connection and hosted by Ulrich Sautter, Falstaff editor-in-chief
  • Monday 18 (PM): “Explore the Wines of Switzerland” walkaround tasting for the wine trade and media at 67 Pall Mall. Link to register: https://swirl.eventscase.com/attendance/event/index/44471/EN
  • Monday 18 (evening): “Explore the Wines of Switzerland” walkaround tasting for club mesmbers and guests at 67 Pall Mall
  • Tuesday 19: “A Tour of Switzerland’s Six Wine Regions” hosted by Lydia Harrison MW and Simon Hardy DipWSET at the WSET London school
  • Wednesday 20th: Swiss Wine Drop-in Tasting at The Sampler, Islington.
  • Thursday 21: “Showcasing Switzerland’s Indigenous Grape Varieties” hosted by Stefan Neumann MS and Sarah Abbott MW at the Institute of Masters of Wine.
  • Friday 22nd: Swiss Wine Drop-in Tasting at Hedonism Wines, Mayfair.
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Tell us more about the walkaround tasting at 67 Pall Mall - can you tell us what is happening there?

This flagship event for the wine trade and media takes place in the afternoon of November 18. A good number of leading producers and UK importers will be in attendance together with the team from Swiss Wine Promotion. This will be the most significant Swiss tasting in London for several years. It is a perfect opportunity to discover Switzerland's distinctive alpine terroirs, diverse climates and high-altitude vineyards, taste some of the many native varieties and enjoy fine expressions of classic international grapes.

How many producers and wines will you be showing?

Some 100 wines from over 20 top producers will be presented. A dozen growers will be there in person and the principal UK importers of Swiss wines will be pouring wines from several other Swiss producers.

You are doing separate events for trade and consumers?

Yes. The different events help us to reach specific professional audiences such as buyers, sommeliers, writers and educators as well as adventurous wine drinkers, of course.

Events for trade professionals are the afternoon walkaround tasting and the 2014 Vintage tasting both at 67 Pall Mall and masterclasses with MS, MW and DipWSET hosts at the Institute of Masters of Wine and the London school of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust.

Consumer events include the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter, the drop-in tastings at Hedonism Wines and The Sampler as well as the walkaround tasting for club members and their guests at 67 Pall Mall.

Can the trade get involved if they want to in terms of promoting Swiss wines in their venues/ shops/ stocking Swiss wine?

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Claude Bosi at Bibendum is one of the restaurtants doing a special Swiss wine promotion

Swiss wine by the glass and other promotions have been organised by the suppliers to leading restaurants including Claude Bosi at Bibendum, The Fat Duck, Morston Hall and Cherwell Boathouse. Suppliers have also organised promotional activities at various retail partners including Alpine Wines, Hedonism Wines and The Sampler, Harrison’s Fine Wine and Deli in Ealing and The Wine Reserve in Cobham.

I expect more activities to be confirmed as plans are still being finalised by the suppliers to a number of hospitality and retail outlets.

Do you have any figures on how well Swiss wines are doing in the UK in terms of sales and growth?

The estimated performance is growth of over 30% in 2021 and around 70% in 2022. This trend appears to have continued in the past 18 months. However, it’s important to bear in mind that the data is very limited and the baseline is small.

As a reminder, exports are less than 2% of total Swiss wine production as demand for Swiss wine remains high in Switzerland. Supply has also been limited in recent years as the harvests were below average in 2020 (-20%) and 2021 (-40%), which makes the growth trend in the UK even more encouraging.

Production in both 2022 and 2023 was back around the average of 100 million litres per annum.

Swiss vineyards cover 14,696 hectares and account for just 0.2% of the world's vineyards. With 61% of the country covered by the Alps, the vineyard area relative to the size of the country places Switzerland in 10th position in the world of wine. There are more than 2,500 winemakers and 62 AOCs divided across six regions: Valais, Vaud, German-speaking Switzerland, Geneva, Ticino and the Three Lakes. The country's alpine terroir creates a wide diversity of climates, hence a variety of different growing conditions.

What do you hope Swiss Wine Week can achieve?

The primary goal is to raise the awareness and sales of Swiss wines in the UK. By bringing together some of the top producers, the main importers and leading local partners in a varied programme of events Swiss Wine Promotion aims to boost not only the knowledge and appreciation of Swiss wines, but also their availability in restaurants, wine bars and retail channels. While the communication is very focused on the week itself, Swiss Wine Week helps to generate media opportunities in the period both beforehand and afterwards.

* You can find out more about Swiss Wine Week here.

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