Schaffhausen is one of the smallest wine-growing region located in the German-speaking north-east part of Switzerland. It is one of the oldest regions in the country going back to Roman times and was developed greatly by monks during the medieval period when it was regarded as one of Switzerland's most important wine regions. The region is famous for its red wines from Pinot Noir known as Blauburgunder, which can be light and elegant in the cooled vintages and powerful and complex in the warm ones. Other popular grapes are the local Diolinoir and Garanoir as well as the white grape with German origins Müller-Thurgau. Schaffhausen wine region has a predominantly continental climate with relatively warm, dry summers and cool winters and average rainfall for a Swiss canton, and with the lowest average altitude of the vineyards. The type of the soils is very diverse in this region which spread from the Jura to the Alps and which includes important basins created by water flows. The region is divided into four wine-growing areas including Klettgau, Schaffhausen, Stein am Rhein and Buchberg/Rüdlingen all of them with different microclimate and unique wine-producing styles. Nowadays the region is rather forgotten and all the wine production is consumed within the country.