Cotes de l'Orbe is a small wine sub-region in the west of Switzerland. Together with neighboring Bonvillars, it constitutes the northern vineyards of the Vaud – the country's second-most-important region in terms of volume.
The Cotes de l'Orbe vineyards lie beyond the south-western tip of Lake Neuchatel, around the town of Orbe (itself named after the Orbe river, which flows into the lake). Swiss journalist Pierre Thomas perhaps best described the Cotes de l'Orbe's location when he wrote: 'Ni au sud du Nord Vaudois, ni au midi des Trois Lacs, juste au Milieu-du-Monde' (neither in the south of the northern Vaud, nor at the heart of the Three Lakes, just at the centre of the world).
As is standard for the Vaud region, the vineyards here are dominated by Chasselas, Pinot Noir and Gamay. Between them, the three varieties cover just over 85% of the Vaud's vineyard area, with Chasselas plantings more than double those of the two red varieties combined. There is a small quantity of Pinot Gris here, too, plus about half as much of both Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. Although Chasselas may seem absolutely dominant, if the rest of Switzerland is anything to go by, the ratio of red to white will increase over the coming years. In the early 1980s, nearly 70% of all Swiss wine was white (made mostly from Chasselas), but since the beginning of this century red wines have become more prevalent.
The climate here is moderated by the presence of Lake Neuchatel to the north-east, Lake Geneva to the south and, of course, the Orbe river itself. However, the Cotes de l'Orbe's location at the western edge of the Swiss Central Plateau and in the distant shadow of both the Alps and the Jura Mountains means there is a mix of climatic effects – both continental and maritime. The soils are equally mixed and for much the same reason; the more characteristic style is mineral-rich, alluvial clays, often over granite and gneiss.
