Wine market in Switzerland

Switzerland is a lucrative market for premium wine producers. The Swiss drink expensive and high-quality wines, with Ornellaia being the most popular wine in on-premise both in the total share of placements and market penetration, with 18% of Swiss restaurants carrying it.

Around two-thirds of the wines consumed in Switzerland are imported and one-third is produced domestically.^[3] The country has only 14,000 ha of vineyards, and almost all Swiss wine is sold in the internal market. Only 0.47% is exported.^[4] The Swiss wine industry is very diverse, although almost unknown outside the country. Chasselas, the most planted and perhaps the most internationally well-known Swiss grape variety, accounts for less than 4% of Swiss wine placements at Swiss restaurants.

43% of imported wines by volume comes from Italy, 22% from France and 17% from Spain.^[5]

There are strong regional differences in Switzerland. In French-speaking Geneva, French wines dominate the market, with 52% of placements, mostly from Burgundy and Bordeaux, while in Italian-speaking Lugano 53% of on-premise wines are Italian.

Wine consumption has been declining in Switzerland in last decades. In 1993, 297 million liters of wine in total and 130 million liters of Swiss wine were consumed, while in 2024 these volumes were 218 million liters and 77 million liters respectively.

A survey of 163 Swiss wineries conducted by the Observatory of Swiss Wine Market (OSMV) in 2023 found that around 25% of wineries’ revenue came from direct-to-consumer sales and 15% from sales directly to restaurants.^[6]

Compiled and checked by Ilya Zabolotnov