{"id":3669,"date":"2017-12-12T06:45:09","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T05:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mondialduchasselas.com\/getting-to-know-chasselas-2\/"},"modified":"2017-12-12T06:45:09","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T05:45:09","slug":"getting-to-know-chasselas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mondialduchasselas.com\/de\/getting-to-know-chasselas\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to Know Chasselas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Widely grown but little known, Switzerland\u2019s champion white grape is starting to attract the attention of wine enthusiasts outside its homeland<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo courtesy of Swiss Wine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n
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With more than 38,000 hectares planted worldwide, in countries as widespread as Canada, China, Romania, and New Zealand, Chasselas is one of the world\u2019s top 30 most widely grown grapes. A high-yielding, early ripening variety, Chasselas is well-suited to marginal climates where long-cycle varieties are at risk of frost, which makes it a popular choice in wine regions like British Columbia in Canada, and Baden in Germany. There are more hectares of Chasselas under vine than there are Zinfandel (32,700 hectares)\u2014and its plantings almost double those of Gr\u00fcner Veltliner (18,800 hectares). Yet Chasselas is practically unknown to consumers outside its native Switzerland.
\nChasselas is a nonaromatic variety with naturally low acidity and low alcohol (11% to 13% ABV)\u2014and it has a reputation for yielding rather neutral table wines, so it rarely makes it onto international wine lists. \u00a0In Switzerland, however, Chasselas is the champion white variety, making up 28 percent of the nation\u2019s wine production. Revered for its finesse and how well it expresses Swiss terroir, it\u2019s also the most planted native variety in Switzerland by far, occupying almost 4,000 hectares.
\n\u201cChasselas was born here, and this is where it finds perfection,\u201d says winemaker Benjamin Massy, whose family winery<\/a> in Lavaux makes five different Chasselas wines. \u201cIt\u2019s delicate, though\u2014you have to take your time to comprehend it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A Swiss Paradox<\/b><\/h2>\n

It wouldn\u2019t be unreasonable to think that Chasselas is popular in Switzerland by default, but that\u2019s not so. There\u2019s no shortage of other native varieties for Swiss winemakers to choose from, according to Jos\u00e9 Vouillamoz, a Swiss ampelographer and the author of C\u00e9pages Suisses<\/i><\/a>. \u201cWe grow, officially, more than 250 grape varieties on a mere 15,000 hectares\u2014it\u2019s probably a world record,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve counted 80 indigenous varieties.\u201d
\nChandra Kurt, a Swiss wine writer and the author of Chasselas\u2014From F\u00e9chy to D\u00e9zaley<\/i><\/a>, says it took her a long time to truly understand the Chasselas grape. \u201cWhen I was younger, I wanted something heavy,\u201d she says, \u201clike a Chardonnay, but when you travel around and taste many wines, you realize that there are few that are so light and digestible [as Chasselas].\u201d
\nThe character of Chasselas seems, paradoxically, to be determined by its very lack of character. \u201cIt has low acidity, low alcohol, and low aromatics, but it has this unique freshness and elegance; it\u2019s very delicate,\u201d says Catherine Cruchon of Henri Cruchon<\/a> winery in \u00c9chichens. \u201cBecause the variety doesn\u2019t have its own strong personality, it really does take its personality from the soil. You really taste where it comes from.\u201d
\nSwitzerland has a wide variety of soils, ranging among chalk, clay, sand, gravel, and schist, and while the country is united by a cool, continental climate, there\u2019s also a wide range of microclimates affected by lakes, Alpine mountains, and altitudes (Switzerland has the highest-altitude vineyards in Europe). Capturing the terroir and not overpowering the simplicity and delicate nature of Chasselas is a winemaking challenge.<\/p>\n

\"vineyards<\/a>
Photo courtesy of Swiss Wine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to make, because it\u2019s so subtle,\u201d says Julien Dutruy, winemaker at Les Freres Dutruy<\/a> in Founex. \u201cIt\u2019s probably the most difficult wine we make because Chasselas can\u2019t tolerate reduction or oxidation, it doesn\u2019t like barrels, and you have to be really careful with the yeast because the wine is so neutral. We have to manage the vinification with accuracy.\u201d
\nThe very neutrality of Chasselas makes producing wine from it a precise art. But if there ever was a nation known for its precision\u2014that would be Switzerland. And so this aromatically neutral grape has found a congenial home in this politically neutral country, with thousands of single-vineyard Chasselas wines on the market, ranging from basic to Grand Cru.<\/p>\n

Chasselas in the U.S.<\/b><\/h2>\n

Despite the plethora of producers, drinking Chasselas outside Switzerland is difficult. Only 2 percent of its wine production is exported, making supplies scarce. Although demand is growing, the price point is another hurdle. \u201cThe market had grown every year from 2003 to 2010, until the dollar lost 40 percent of its value against the Swiss franc,\u201d says Laurent Crolla, who imports a dozen Chasselas wines to the U.S. through Swiss Cellars<\/a>. \u201cIt has somewhat recovered [both the dollar and the volume], but the exchange rate is still a big issue. The more interesting Swiss wines retail above US$25.\u201d
\nThere\u2019s another conundrum in the marketing of Chasselas. There are 248 known synonyms for Chasselas, and although it has many names, the variety is rarely stated on the bottle. \u201cIn Switzerland we have a very old wine culture with Chasselas,\u201d explains Chandra Kurt. \u201cAnd, as in Burgundy, we don\u2019t call the wines by the grape\u2019s name but by the commune.\u201d The combination of multiple synonyms and the favoring of the village name over that of the variety means that identifying a Chasselas from the label alone can be difficult.
\nThese quirks, along with the grape\u2019s inconspicuous character, give a sense of why, outside Switzerland, Chasselas remains in the domain of the intellectual and expert wine drinker. \u201cProfessionals seem to have gained interest and knowledge of the regions and producers, [and] the question now is whether that can be translated into actual consumer interest,\u201d says Arvid Rosengren<\/a>, the wine director at the restaurant Charlie Bird<\/a> in New York City and winner of the 2016 Best Sommelier in the World<\/a> competition. \u201cChasselas obviously can make good wine, but much of it is overly neutral and boring. It\u2019s very malleable, or in a nicer way, terroir transparent. The classic Grand Cru sites make better wine, which is a good thing. I think the perception abroad has to start at the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is Chasselas Ripe for a Cult Following? <\/b><\/h2>\n

Oregon\u2019s Eyrie Vineyards<\/a> winemaker Jason Lett, who has been a fan of Swiss wines since visiting the country years ago, feels that the wines deserve more attention in the U.S. \u201cChasselas is revered as the great conduit of terroir,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s so delicate and transparent; Chasselas does whisper very different stories depending largely on where it\u2019s grown. Switzerland is a candy store for anyone who looks at wine from the perspective of vines first.\u201d
\nWhile Chasselas is still off the radar for most, this unique Swiss variety is beginning to appeal to a subset of imbibers who are looking for something different. As many in the wine world recoil from the excesses of oak and extraction popularized in recent decades, Chasselas\u2014with its subtle elegance, tempered minerality, and drinkability\u2014might just offer an antidote.
\nAmanda Barnes<\/i><\/b><\/a> is a British wine writer who since 2009 has been based in South America, where she specializes in the wines and regions of Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay. Ever footloose, she is currently on a mission to travel <\/i>Around the World in 80 Harvests<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Widely grown but little known, Switzerland\u2019s champion white grape is starting to attract the attention of wine enthusiasts outside its homeland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[54],"tags":[710,158,159,711],"yoast_head":"\nGetting to Know Chasselas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Widely grown but little known, Switzerland\u2019s champion white grape is starting to attract the attention of wine enthusiasts outside its homeland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mondialduchasselas.com\/de\/getting-to-know-chasselas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Getting to 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