Chasselas

Chasselas is Switzerland's white grape, and the Swiss are almost alone in taking it seriously as a wine variety. Elsewhere it is grown to be eaten. It is one of the oldest cultivated varieties in Europe, and DNA work places its origin in the Lake Geneva basin rather than in France or Egypt, both of which have been claimed for it.

It has almost no aroma of its own, low acidity and modest alcohol, which sounds like a list of failings. The Swiss treat it as a virtue. Because the grape adds so little, the site shows through, and Vaud growers bottle it village by village along the terraced Lavaux slopes above the lake to demonstrate exactly that. The wine is light, gently nutty, often left with a faint spritz from the lees.

In France it is grown in Savoie and in the Pouilly-sur-Loire appellation, where it sits awkwardly beside the sauvignon blanc of neighbouring Pouilly-Fumé. Germany calls it gutedel and grows it in the Markgräflerland. Everywhere else it is a table grape, sold to be eaten fresh, and it is one of the few varieties that works well in both roles.