The Valais wine region: exceptional vineyards and vintages
An ancestral wine culture
Winegrowing and the Valais go back thousands of years. Grape seeds dating back to the Iron Age (800-500 BC) have been discovered in the Upper Valais, near Brig.
However, researchers believe that winegrowing, in the true sense of the word, took root in the region in Roman times. We know from a ceramic bottle found in a Celtic tomb near Sembrancher that the people of the Valais used to offer wine to the dead 150 years BC. We can deduce from this that they also drank wine during their lifetime. Recent excavations have also confirmed the presence of organised vineyards in the 12th century.
An extraordinary wealth of wines
Today, this history between man and Valais vines continues. The Valais wine region covers 4,842 hectares. It is characterised by an extraordinary variety of micro-climates, indigenous grape varieties and aromas that the winegrowers create.
As for the whites: Petite Arvine is the star. Humagne blanche, Amigne and rarer varieties such as Rèze and Lafnetscha also make up the richness of the Valais terroir. Not forgetting the great local and international classics such as Chasselas (known as Fendant), Rhin, Sylvaner (known as Johannisberg), Savagnin blanc (known as Païen or Heida) and Marsanne (known as Ermitage).
As for the reds: Cornalin and Humagne rouge are the most famous regional grape varieties. They are complemented by Pinot noir, Gamay, Syrah and Merlot.
Like an artist, the Maison Rouge cellar plays with the great diversity of the region's soils and climates to produce vintages that reveal the full typicity of the canton of Valais.
Wines that tell the story of the Valaisan heritage and invite themselves onto our tables for moments of sharing and discovery. Discovery because the expressions of these local wines are infinite and are never the same from one vintage to the next.