The country's third red grape, from Fully to Geneva
Serve a Gamay slightly cool with poultry, cold cuts or soft cheese: this light red smells of cherry, raspberry and strawberry and has few tannins. Switzerland's third red grape, it grows in the Valais, Vaud and Geneva, the French-speaking cantons in the west. On Helvitic you will buy it straight from the winery.
Orders are not open yet: online payment is still in its test phase. Once it opens, each winery sells its own bottles.
Gamay makes fruity, light reds, loved for their freshness. Swiss Wine Promotion, the body that promotes Swiss wine, lists cherry, raspberry and strawberry, often with a touch of pepper or violet.
Its acidity is lively and its tannins are light, so it barely dries the mouth. Swiss Wine Valais, the trade body for Valais wines, describes a purple colour and a juicy, cheerful wine with bright fruit and no heaviness.
Gamay descends from Pinot Noir: DNA studies published in 1999 show it is a natural cross of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc. According to Swiss Wine Promotion, it often has a more floral nose, more pronounced minerality and slightly livelier acidity than the more elegant, more complex Pinot Noir.
Higher yields usually make it the cheaper bottle. The two grapes meet in Dôle, the Valais red blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay, and in Salvagnin, a red from Vaud. Our Pinot Noir page covers Dôle's other grape.
Almost only in French-speaking Switzerland. According to the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), it is the country's third red grape, and nearly all of it grows in the Valais, Vaud and Geneva. The charts on this page show the detail.
It came from Burgundy in the 19th century, when Swiss vineyards were replanted. It likes limestone and granite soils; Swiss Wine Valais links its reputation in the Lower Valais, between Fully and Martigny, to granite, as in the top Beaujolais villages. Back in Burgundy, Duke Philip the Bold had it pulled up in the Middle Ages, calling it a ‘vile and disloyal plant’.
Keep the food simple. Swiss Wine Promotion suggests poultry, cold cuts, soft cheeses such as brie or tomme, mushrooms and quiches. With so few tannins it does not turn harsh next to cheese, and its acidity refreshes after fatty charcuterie.
Helvitic's mulled wine guide, in French and German, suggests it too: mulled wine needs a fruity, low-tannin red.
Serve it at 15 to 17 °C, as Swiss Wine Promotion recommends: slightly cool, to keep the fruit. Take it out of the cellar or fridge a little before the meal rather than serving it at room temperature.
Drink it young: Gamay is usually at its best one to three years after bottling. Top-quality wines can keep five to ten years or more in good conditions.
Gamay: official 2025 figures
Wine made from Gamay, a red grape from Burgundy. In Switzerland it makes light, fruity reds, mainly in the Valais, Vaud and Geneva.
No. Gamay is a grape; Dôle is a Valais wine that blends Pinot Noir and Gamay.
Soft cheeses such as brie or tomme, according to Swiss Wine Promotion. Gamay's fresh fruit suits their mild taste.
Yes. Gamay is mostly made as a red, but also as rosé and even sparkling wine, according to Swiss Wine Promotion.
0 bottles
Your cart is empty