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Percent of the volume of Bordeaux wine that costs over $60 a bottle. Although the region, with its 6,800 châteaux is notorious for the high prices charged by the First Growths (the futures price for a bottle of Château Lafite-Rothschild 2014, for example, is $422; for Château Mouton-Rothschild 2014, $326), the vast majority of Bordeaux wines cost a fraction of their famous big sisters.

Switzerland is mostly a red wine producing country.

Answer: True.

It may seem counterintuitive given its climate, but Switzerland produces mostly red wine. The leading variety, in fact, is pinot noir, called blauburgunder, a light, spicy, and often quite good wine, although (when grown in Switzerland) rarely complex or nuanced in flavor. Some tasty, light red wines are also made from pinot noir-gamay blends (called Dôle) and merlot has been growing in the southern canton of Ticino since the early part of the 20th century. Both wines are light, sleek, fairly crisp, and sometimes spicy. But perhaps the most intriguing red variety of all in Switzerland is the indigenous rouge du pays, which can be the source of super-juicy, spicy wines redolent of black cherries and pomegranates.

“Wine needs to have life–both aliveness in the glass, and a long life ahead of it.”

—Cathy Corison
Corison Winery

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