Visit Moevenpick Wein, they have a shop downstairs in Jelmoli, at Kloten and at Enge. They have some great local wines and the staff are very friendly, most speak English and know their wines. Moast wines will be much lower than 100 chufs
There are some great reds from the Zurich state winery, I love most Reisling Silvana wines from around Zurisee.
If one is not a professional wine-taster, does one actually taste a difference between a 50 and a 100 CHF wine?
My boss sends out what must amount to several dozens of bottles of (Spanish) wine which cost between 100 and 200 CHF each christmas. We once had one for a dinner and though the wine was "good" for me, I couldn't really say I liked it better than e.g. the 35 CHF bottle of Syrah from http://www.jrgermanier.ch/de/vin-cay...valais_34.html
This is the Stoney Cabernet which is much cheaper than 80 CHF, in fact it sells for around 30. There flagship wine is the Domaine A Cab Sauv which is 80 chuffs but their best wine by far is the incredible Lady A Sauvignon Blanc (oaked) which is as rare as hens teeth and simply one of the best wines I have ever tasted.
The Stoney Cab Sauv is 29.50 at Zweifel who are the importers. The 1998 vintage is called reserve but all of the other vintages of this wine are not. The 1998 was aged longer than normal in oak as a consequence of the larger vintage. I had a magnum of the wine about a year ago and it was drinking exceedingly well.
As to the Domaine A I have been lucky enough to drink all the vintages ever made of this wine often with First Growth Bordeaux and can hand on heart say that at 80 CHF its a bargain.
Just to show my hand I was the company's export marketing manager from 2003 until 2008
I'm assuming your total budget for a few bottles is up to CHF 100, not CH100 for one bottle!
If you're looking for something that's truly representative then the bulk of white wine is made from Chasselas grapes (it's also the grape Fendant from the Valais is made from). A good quality pick would be a Dézaley from Vaud. A good quality one should cost around CHF 25. I like Chemin de Fer by Luc Massey but you'll be able to get others. Otherwise a white Chesselas from St. Saphorin or Yvorne would be good quality. I also like Merlot Bianco from Ticino which Manor stocks.
Most red wine here is made from from Pinot Noir grapes, though Gamay, Cabernet, Merlot, Gamaret and Syrah are also available. I find Swiss Pinot Noirs a bit thin. If you want the best Pinot Noir, go for one labelled "Assemblage" which is a blend of the growers best grapes. If you want something with more body I would pick a Gamaret from the Valais or a Merlot from Ticino.
For Rosé there's Oeil du Perdrix from Neuchatel of Dole Blanche from Valais.
If you want a grape that's unique to Switzerland then pick a white Petite Arvine and a Cornalin or Humagne Rouge red. All three are grown in the Valais. The production of these three wines is relatively low so they can be a bit more expensive.
I don't know the wines from Northern Switzerland very well so I'll defer to Grumpygrapefruit.
Ok, I will regret posting this here, since we hog her production big time, but I found a great, local vigneronne, her name is Emilienne Hutin , and her traminer is the best (I am actually sipping it right this minute, ooooooooh). Since she has taken over her dad's business, they started receiving a couple of prizes a year. Their wine is fab, I prefer her white wine and drinking it just symbolically. Plus, she is a very smart, good looking, down to earth, hardworking fun chick with great sense of humor. She deserves all the fame, makes the wine even better.
Thanks for the personal recommendation, sounds interesting. Her website doesn't seem to have much info on it, can you give us a feel for the price range, grape varieties etc if you know that kind of thing*
*not that it really matters, I wouldn't know a Shiraz from a Syrah
They also produce wines from Completer, a rare grape. But this is normally not sold in stores, sometimes you can get Icewine, a sweet whitewine from the region.
They are working on their site, true. I would just contact her (see the details on her site), they will send you their catalogue and will answer any questions, I think she understands English, too. I can't find my catalogue, but we always go either Fri evening or Sat morning, they have their cave open for degustation (last time we were there, there were a ton of real wine pros coming all the way from Burgundy to check out her production), it is beautiful there for a walk around in the vinyards, too. Here is some info, it seems they are collecting awards every few months, all over, she has a ton of recent Coop selections awards, it is much cheaper to get the wine from her, not from Coop. Personally, my fav is "Savagnin Rose Aromatique, 2009", it's extraordinarily smooth, for people who like traminer (it's a white wine made of grapes that are pink, it's a special faintly flowery taste, a mix of nuts and lichee flavor, but it is not overwhelming), it's an experience. It's the best traminer I had, and we do have pretty ok tramins back home. I think we pay around 15fr for 0,75l bottle. This wine makes a good gift, too, our neighbors like us bringing it over. She has a lot of white wines that I really like, dry and smooth (her Chardoney 2008 is great, won a European prize as well), the reds are fine fine too, I can post some more info after we go again and restock, I will pick up another catalogue. It's cool to wonder around the vinyards, talk to pro who loves her job and is a master in it, and is charming.
Bernecker wine. Great stuff and very versatile you can drink the stuff, use it as salad dressing, as anti-freeze and get rid of the scale in the kettle.