Wine consumption falls to record low

Corking view: the vineyards in Lavaux, overlooking Lake Geneva Keystone

Last year 264 million litres of wine were consumed in Switzerland, 7.5 million litres less than in 2013, a drop of 2.8%. Swiss wines suffered more than foreign ones – a result blamed on poor recent harvests.

Wine consumption has been dwindling in Switzerland for years, although 2013 saw a one-off rise. While total white wine consumption (domestic and imported) fell 1.7% last year, total red wine consumption fell 3.3%, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Federal Office for AgricultureExternal link.

One exception to this trend was sparkling wine: 17.8 million litres were knocked back, an increase of 5.2%.

Consumption of Swiss red wine plummeted by 8.8%, with the consequence that for the first time more local white wine was drunk than red wine, although as usual more red wine was produced.

The poor performance of local winesExternal link had been expected following the weather-effected harvests of 2013 and 2014.

In 2014 Swiss vineyards covered 14,835 hectares, fractionally less than the previous year. Of this, red grape varieties make up 58%.