How to Buy Wine in Switzerland
Switzerland has the world's most expensive supermarket wine and some of its best independent shops. Here's how to navigate both — and where the real value sits.
· 8 min read
Key takeaways
- Coop, Manor, and Globus run the largest supermarket wine selections; Denner is the cheap end; online shops range from mass-market (Flaschenpost, Mövenpick) to curated and personalised (sommelia.ch).
- Swiss wine almost never leaves Switzerland — buying Valais, Vaud, or Ticino at home is the only way to drink it well.
- The biggest single saving in Swiss wine: buying directly from a small online retailer rather than at a supermarket markup.
Frequently asked questions
- Is wine really more expensive in Switzerland than in France or Italy?
- Yes — typically 30 to 60% more for the same imported bottle, and Swiss wine itself is expensive by international standards. The reasons are high land and labour costs for Swiss wine, high tariffs on imported wine, plus Swiss drinkers preferring quality wine at a premium price.
- What's the difference between Coop, Mövenpick Wein, and Sommelia?
- Coop is a general supermarket with a large but mass-market wine section. Mövenpick Wein (now Coop-owned) is a specialist chain with serious imported wines. Sommelia is curated — fewer bottles, chosen with intention, with a sommelier helping you buy wine confidently.
- Can I import wine from France or Italy myself?
- Yes, within limits. Each adult can bring 5 litres of wine into Switzerland duty-free from abroad; above that, you pay duty and VAT at the border. Online ordering from a French or Italian shop and shipping to Switzerland is technically possible but the shipping and customs paperwork usually erase the saving.
- How do I know whether a Swiss wine is good without tasting it?
- Three signals, in this order: the producer (look up the name; serious Valais and Vaud producers are well documented online), the appellation (tighter is usually better — Dézaley over Lavaux, Fully over Valais), and the price relative to the producer's range. Critic scores exist but are less developed for Swiss wine than for Bordeaux or Burgundy.
Not sure which wine to pick? Tell our sommelier what you are eating or the occasion and we will find the right bottle — or browse the full sommelia.ch collection.