Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland, lying entirely south of the main Alpine watershed and divided by the Monte Ceneri pass into a granite north and a warmer, calcareous south. Merlot, introduced from Bordeaux after phylloxera devastated the region's vineyards in the late nineteenth century, now accounts for more than three quarters of plantings, and remains the defining variety in both red and, distinctively, white-vinified form as Merlot Bianco. Despite its Mediterranean feel, Ticino is Switzerland's wettest wine region, its climate softened by pre-Alpine lakes such as Maggiore and Lugano. Bondola and Freisa, the indigenous reds that defined the region before Merlot's arrival, survive today on fewer than twenty hectares, kept alive by a handful of producers as a matter of heritage.