La Cote is a wine sub-region of Vaud, western Switzerland, located on the northern shores of Lake Geneva. It is known for producing steely white wines, mainly from the Chasselas grape – the workhorse of the Swiss wine industry. Vaud is Switzerland's second-most-important wine region in terms of volume (surpassed only by Valais), and La Cote is its most prolific sub-region.
© Wikimedia/Marc Mongenet
As is standard for the Vaud region, the white wines here are dominated by Chasselas, and the reds by Pinot Noir and Gamay. Between them, these three varieties cover just over 85% of the Vaud's vineyard area (Chasselas plantings are more than double those of the two red varieties combined). There is also a small quantity of Pinot Gris in the La Cote, plus about half as much of both Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. Although Chasselas may seem to be 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, and most of that was made from Chasselas. Since the turn of the new century, however, red wines have become more and more prevalent each year.
Beyond the prevalence of Pinot Noir vines, there are several other striking similarities between the La Cote landscape and that of the Cote de Nuits in Burgundy, located 80 miles (130km) to the north-west. The vineyards run south-west to north-east in a belt just over a mile wide, covering the lower two-thirds of the slopes. The highest lie at about 800ft (245m) above the lake, their upper limits marked by the forested ridge of the escarpment. The obvious difference between these two historic wine regions is the presence of Lake Geneva, which is overlooked by every La Cote vineyard. The lake is a vital feature in the growing conditions here, not only moderating temperatures in both summer and winter, but also reflecting a great deal of light from its sparkling alpine waters. As a result, the climate is so mild that it is sometimes described as being almost Mediterranean. Less obviously, the soils here might be favorably compared to both Bordeaux and Burgundy, with the loose gravels around the lakeside echoing those of Graves, and the limestone and clays higher up evoking those found all over Burgundy.
The land here is owned by a relatively large number of growers, as shown by the elegant 'patchwork' appearance of the hillside (La Cote means 'the slope', a reference to its location above Lake Geneva). Most either sell their harvest under contract or join together in co-operative wineries. An increasing number, however, are now making and selling their own wine, a sign of the increasingly commercial focus of the Swiss wine industry.
