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Gamaret 2012Today, of all days, "wine and politics" is the topic of the monthly rally of wine and pleasure bloggers. Early this morning I posted my contribution on the web and wrote ".... there is a Swiss system also in the field of wine. It is called village wine or town wine and is not regulated anywhere, neither in law nor in ordinances.... It consists of the fact that almost every municipality has its own wine, almost always produced privately and (almost) never linked to the political municipality. They are simply vines that grow in the municipality and often bear the name of the municipality. When someone is elected to an office or otherwise honoured, or when a resident has reached a biblical age, or when a special achievement is to be honoured, or when guests are to be received (from the neighbouring village or even from abroad), a certain wine is always served, the communal or town wine. The name and the place of origin should shine, not the quality. Typical of the Swiss system.

Tonight of all nights - we are invited - we are served a typical community wine, the "Hasliberger". Niederhasli is a rural community in the canton of Zurich with just under 9,000 inhabitants and its own vineyard on the Hasliberg (not to be confused with the Bernese community of Hasliberg near Interlaken). In Oberhasli (politically part of Niederhasli) there is also a "Rebverein" (vine club) which (according to its own information) cultivates a vineyard as a leisure activity. "Are you looking for a special gift for someone who lives or has lived in Oberhasli or has some other connection to our village or vines? Then you are sure to find what you are looking for in our wine sale or vine sponsorship section."

obeehasliIt doesn't have to be a "vine association", it can just as well be a winegrower or a larger company that presses the wines. What is decisive is the location of the vines in a municipality and the name associated with it. "There is not only pride and self-confidence, business sense and independence behind this system. My conclusion: the communal wine is also a political declaration: "Do not mix in other people's affairs" (Niklaus von Flue, 1417-1487), because the wine industry (not only it!) is often perceived here as a brutal struggle for prestige, power and market share. So one prefers to stick to the "Gemeindegewächs", because at least one knows what one has. System Switzerland!

Hasliberger is a rather light country wine made from a grape variety that was bred in Switzerland about 40 years ago, is largely resistant to vine diseases and can produce a fruity, aromatic, fresh wine. It is marketed - at CHF 25, after all - mainly in the community. A community wine, that is, the Swiss system.

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