Top 100 white wines of Eastern Switzerland

Discover the top 100 best white wines of Eastern Switzerland as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the white wines that are popular of Eastern Switzerland and the best vintages to taste in this region.

Discovering the wine region of Eastern Switzerland

St. Gallen is a German-speaking Canton of eastern Switzerland with a corresponding AOC. Much of the winegrowing that does occur within its borders takes place in the Rheintal region (the upper Rhein Valley) whose name often appears more prominently on labels. However, even here, wine production is not the dominant land-based industry.

Rheintal is a wine region which Lies at the far eastern edge of Switzerland, running North to South along the Swiss borders with Austria and Liechtenstein. As the name suggests ("tal" is a Germanic suffix denoting a valley), the focus of this region is the valley of the Rhein river – specifically the upper Rhein between Graubunden and Lake Constance. After making its way down from its source at the Tomasee, high in the Alps, the Rhein turns northwards, through the substantial valley it has carved out for itself over many millennia. Both broad and flat, this area is highly fertile, based on mineral-rich alluvium brought downriver from the mountains to the west.

This forms an oasis of Green among the dark grey ridges of the Alps. As such there are many alternative land uses which compete with viticulture, including habitation. Pinot Noir is the most commonly planted Grape. It is helped to ripen by the Warm föhn wind, known here as the "Traubenkocher" (grape cooker).

News from the vineyard of Eastern Switzerland

Top Australian winery Giant Steps gets new head winemaker

Australia’s Giant Steps said that Melanie Chester joined the winery as head of winemaking and viticulture on 25 November. It marks a new chapter for one of the leading wineries in Yarra Valley, Victoria. Steve Flamsteed, who joined Giant Steps as chief winemaker in 2003, will step back from the cellar – although he is expected to continue working closely with the team. Working alongside winery founder Phil Sexton, Flamsteed has played a major role in developing Giant Steps’ reputation for excell ...

Americans swindled in $13m wine investment scam

The authorities have charged Casey Alexander, who lives in the UK, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is accused of running three companies – Windsor Jones, Charles Winn and Vintage Whisky Casks – which obtained the phone numbers of elderly Americans and cold-called them. Investigators said the companies used ‘aggressive and deceptive tactics’ to convince people to wire them money, promising them huge returns. Windsor Jones’ website, which lists the company’s address as Wilmington, D ...

Lilian Bérillon: vine supplier to the stars

You don’t need a state-of-the-art winery to make wine. You don’t need rows of pristine oak barrels. One thing you do need to make good wine is good vines. Have you ever asked yourself where all these vines come from? How do they find their way into the ground? It used to be easy. In the past, winemakers simply took cuttings from their vineyards, propagated them, and planted them in the ground. But phylloxera put a stop to that. What was a simple process acquired layers of complexity: winemakers ...

The best wines of Eastern Switzerland in other styles