‘ In 2018 I wil be able to sel a single- varietal Groe Arvine for e first time’. Olivier Pittet winemaker VINE Groe    Arvine         Completer, Lafnetscha and Diolle are a few of the varieties that were once widespread in Valais but have now almost disappeared from its vineyards. It was a miracle that they survived, and their revival owes a great deal to passionate individuals like Olivier Pittet who were inspired by these relics of the past.

In 2013, our portrait of Olivier Pittet said: ‘In the plant a 200 m2 plot. Autumn 2013 will mark the varieties which were mistaken for it or blended 19th century, this white grape variety was com- birth of Les Temps Passés, a composed of with it as part of our revival. In 2018 I can expect mon in the Martigny and Fully regions, where 80 per cent Grosse Arvine and 20 per cent oth- 150 litres of Grosse Arvine from grafting, enabling it enjoyed a considerable reputation. Created as er white grape varieties.’ Five years later, Oliv- me to market a true single-varietal wine for the a natural cross between Rèze and an unknown ier Pittet remains a passionate small producer first time.’ To the producer’s regret, it will be sold variety, it was two family steps away from Petite working with just under a hectare of vines. He as a Vin de Pays, since Grosse Arvine is not yet Arvine (its grandmother). In 2008, when this has continued his search for the oldest plots of a permitted variety under the Valais AOC appel- young Vaud winemaker based in Fully began to vines and found some Grosse Arvine plants out- lation. With the exception of Benoît Dorsaz, who show an interest, there were only a few known side of Fully, enabling him to expand the genetic runs the 200 m2 conservatory mentioned at the plants remaining – so the thirty-year-old roamed diversity and quality of his plant material. ‘Many beginning of the article, Grosse Arvine spon- the region’s oldest vineyards, rummaged through of these old vines are heavily infected with vi- sored by the Grands Crus de Fully has not made the vines clinging to walls, and discovered sixty ruses, causing problems for winemakers who many inroads with Valais winemakers. ‘And yet or so Grosse Arvine plants, all of which were sad- might be interested in replanting Grosse Arvine. it is a grape variety with everything going for it’, ly infected with viruses. With its lacklustre name The situation can only be improved with signif- in the regretful words of this winemaker who is and what was then a negative image, scratched icant selection work that requires time, specific now showing an interest in another white variety from the official list of Valais varieties, this native knowledge, and consequently substantial funds’, that was created by crossing Rèze with Humagne grape was not stirring passions. Olivier Pittet was this passionate winemaker continues. Whilst ap- Blanche. This as yet nameless variety with con- not discouraged, and commissioned a nursery- proaching potential patrons, he grafted a plot of firmed parentage could also be making waves in man to propagate the plant materials available. Fendant vines with Grosse Arvine. ‘As it stands, a few years’ time.

Photo: Régis Colombo/diapo.ch Régis Photo: In 2010, he decided to try the adventure and my Grosse Arvine contains 15-40% other white www.grossearvine.ch

DECEMBER 2018 VALAIS | VINUM 05 VINE

  Lafnetscha   

In Visp, e Chant family is making wine fr grape varieties at have bîn forgo en by e rest of e world. The most elegant of is U er Valais estate’s rarities is Lafnetscha, an unkn n native grape variety of e Valais.

Genetic analysis of Valais grape varieties has minen vineyards, Josef-Marie Chanton decided shown that numerous once thought of that since Lafnetscha had survived in the region as being native or indigenous to Valais have for- for over three centuries, now was not the time eign origins. Some – like Cornalin or Humagne to abandon it. ‘You can buy Merlot, Cabernet or kilos of grapes. The following year it was two Rouge – came into being in the Aosta Valley Chardonnay in any supermarket anywhere in tons of grapes. However, the generous price we before crossing the Great St Bernard Pass. Oth- the world. If you want to get visitors to this tour- were offering attracted some fraudsters who ers, such as Humagne Blanche, can trace their ism-driven canton interested in our vineyards, put a few Lafnetscha grapes on top of a crate roots back up the Rhone. For Lanetscha, there you have to offer then something unique. I had filled with Fendant or Johannisberg. We sent all is every reason to believe that it truly was born already planted Gouais, and I decided that I of these people home and decided to plant our in Valais. Its name, which means ‘do not drink needed to make wine from Lafnetscha’, explains own vines. That was in 1980’, Josef-Marie Chan- me too quickly’, is a reference to its considera- this nature fan who works with his son Mario ton informs us. Today, Lafnetscha is the biggest ble acidity and ageing potential. This offspring to cultivate seven hectares of vines across the of the rarities grown by the family, at 2500 bot- of Completer and Humagne Blanche that is ref- towns of Visp, Visperterminen, Leuk and Varen. tles a year. ‘It is a low-yielding variety, producing erenced as early as a 1627 text has always been ‘With my father Oskar, who created the winery 800 to 900 grams of grapes per square metre. grown around Visp. In 1970, when at Wädenswil but bought in all his grapes from winegrowers, However, it grows exuberant foliage that re- engineering school writing his dissertation on we advertised for people to send us Lafnetscha. quires a lot of work. In a relatively dry region the old grape varieties of Visp and Visperter- The first year we received five or six hundred like Visp, it has proven very resistant to disease

06 VINUM | SWISS WINE VALAIS DECEMBER 2018 ‘If Lafnetscha has survived in Visp for 3 years, n is not e time to aband it.’ Josef-Marie Chanton œnologist

and only requires three to five plant health treatments per year’, explains this winemaker The rarest in the world who gave up insecticides three decades ago. ‘In ‘The New York Times recently mentioned our Himbertscha in an article about the rarest wines in the winery we still use native yeast to ensure as the world. A few days later, three members of staff from the US Embassy came to buy cases of typical a style as possible. For similar reasons, this wine, which we are the only people on the planet producing’, Josef-Marie Chanton explains. maturation (for whites all finishing their malol- This offspring of Humagne Blanche and an unknown parent is just the rarest of the curiosities actic fermentation) is entirely in stainless steel.’ made and sold (at 900 to 1500 bottles a year) by the Chanton family. This means that in Visp, With considerable acidity and touches of exotic you can buy Gwäss (Gouais in French), a variety that was once common in Europe and has aromas in its youth, Lafnetscha ages with great produced manifold offspring including Chardonnay, Gamay, Furmint and Riesling. You can also grace, our interviewee confirms. He organises find Plantscher (or Gros Bourgogne), the child of Furmint, Rèze, one of the oldest grape varie- regular tastings of old vintages, attracting con- ties in Valais, and Eyholzer Roter, a red rarity. Sold at around 26 francs a bottle, these wines are noisseurs from all over Switzerland who come making the ultra-exclusive accessible, since they are ten to a hundred times rarer than any of to try Lafnetscha and other mature rarities the prestigious labels from the world’s great wine regions.

Photo: Régis Colombo/diapo.ch Régis Photo: twenty or thirty years old.

DECEMBER 2018 VALAIS SWISS WINE | VINUM 07 VINE

 Cpleter   Thanks to two iconic Valais estates, Clos Tsampéhro and Marie-Thérèse Chappaz, this Graubünden grape variety is making a comeback in Valais vineyards where it was doubtless once widespread.

‘Valais locals are curious people who like to but only our white specialities really set us apart experiment with lots of things. The variety of from foreign competition’, according to this win- grapes planted is also part of the canton’s charm’, emaker planning to plant up to 6000 m2 of this The Walser: Marie-Thérèse Chappaz explains when asked variety that was first referenced in 1321 in Malans high mountain settlers why she has planted a new grape variety in her in a Chur Cathedral chapter document. At the eleven hectares of vineyards, which already con- time the variety was known as ‘complies’, the last Completer is not the only link between tain nearly twenty five. ‘The fragmentation of Val- sung religious service of the day. It was also the Graubünden and Upper Valais. These ais’s vineyards means that every winemaker has Benedictines who took it to Italy, Malans and Val- two Alpine regions were both colonised one or two small plots where many people have ais. These wanderings explain our Completer’s by the Walser, bringing their dialects, planted one or sometimes two varieties that they distant family ties with transalpine Marzemino. architecture and traditions with them. like. So when you rent or buy a plot of vines, it of- Having arrived in Switzerland, it then produced This people, whose descendants can be ten has four or five different varieties’, continues two offspring with Ticino’s Bondola: Bondoletta found in Italy, France, Austria, Liechten- this winemaker, who confesses that Completer (a Ticino curiosity) and Hirzkicher (a rarity from stein and Switzerland’s Alpine cantons, bowled her over. ‘At a meeting in Graubünden the canton of Lucerne). In Valais it has always migrated from Germania to Helvetia in of the members of Mémoire des Vins Suisses, been confused with its son Lafnetscha, born of the era of major invasions. During the José Vouillamoz presented a Completer tasting. an affair with Humagne Blanche. This native fla- Middle Ages before the year 1000, they That is when I discovered this not hugely fruity vour underpins Marie-Thérèse Chappaz’s choice settled in the desolate valleys of eastern grape variety, offering restrained complex aro- to revive Completer in Valais. ‘It is a grape varie- Valais, which then served as a base for mas, considerable acidity, and magnificent age- ty that can produce high levels of natural sugar spreading across much of the Alpine arc. ing potential’, our interviewee continues, adding whilst retaining considerable acidity, a major as- These settlers were not invaders – they that no-one supported her idea of reintroducing set in the context of global warming, and it also occupied uninhabited land in mountain- a grape variety (an approach being followed in has a firm skin that makes it suitable for making ous areas (1000 to over 2000 metres parallel by Clos Tsampéhro, which also planted wine with no added sulphur using maceration on above sea level) and established self-re- this curiosity in 2012) that some people preferred the skins (like a red wine). Ideally, I would like to liant farms or hamlets. These farmers, to leave to Graubünden, where its planting area make three different wines with my Completer: a who were skilled timber workers and remains limited but stable. ‘My few plots are defi- classic barrel-aged white, a curiosity using mac- knew how to obtain the best from an nitely not going to overshadow a grape variety eration on the skins, and an oxidised solera-style unhospitable environment, doubtless planted across a total of five hectares. In addi- wine. Of course, this is a project that will take ten played a key role in the travels of Alpine tion, it seems to me that Valais needs to position years, as the 150 litres obtained in 2018 mark my grape varieties such as Completer, Petite itself on the international market with its white first vintage.’ Arvine or Humagne Rouge. wines. We are currently putting reds everywhere, www.chappaz.ch

08 VINUM | SWISS WINE VALAIS DECEMBER 2018 Photo: Régis Colombo/diapo.ch  einternatialmarket wi ‘Valais nîdstopositi itself its whitewines.’ Marie-Thérèse Chappaz winemaker VINE

‘ It is not necearily a grape variety I wld advise, but y can do interesting ings wi it and I am prd to say at I am daring to sel it.’ Jean-Paul Aymon winemaker VINE

 Pign e a The lost world Given the re-emergence of old grape varieties, it seems like a good idea to look at how and why so many varieties have been lost. To tackle this issue, you have to realise that despite the widespread marketing    discourse on tradition used in the modern winemaking world, vineyards (in Valais, Switzerland and across the world) have al- Once mistaken for Rèze Rouge, the Pignoletta ways been constantly changing ecosystems planted by Jean-Paul Aymon has proven as unusual that have had to adapt to climatic, political and economic changes. These changes have and surprising as its rescuer. been poorly or sporadically documented, often causing embarrassment even for top specialists. One example is this document Jean-Paul Aymon has always been passionate emakers called Rèze Rouge’, explains this artist taken from the journal ‘Le Confédéré du about grapes’ transformation into wine. Born who has exhibited his paintings all over Swit- Valais’ on 27 November 1862, presenting into a family of winemakers, his first attempts at zerland. A sample error led him to believe for a a ‘classification of wines grown in Valais’. making wine were at the age of just 17. He per- while that there really was a coloured variety of According to this article, the following white fected his theoretical and practical training over this ancient Valais grape. In 2013, new analyses varieties could be found: ‘1. Muscats Roux. the course of two decades which he spent trav- showed that it was in fact Pignoletta, a produc- 2. Fendants. 3. Malvoisie. 4. Amigne. 5. Hu- elling across Valais, northern Italy, and Ticino on tive hybrid direct from northern Italy. ‘It has high magne. 6. Reisi. 7. Petite Arvine. 8. Grosse behalf of a cork company. In 2009, he decided to acidity, little juice and little flesh. Sugar levels Arvine. 9. Marque. 10. Coquinret (?). 11. Petit focus his efforts on three hectares of vines in the need to exceed 120 degrees Oechsle to quell its Gamet Blanc. 12. Blanc du Rhin. 13. Johannis- municipality of Ayent, surrounded by forest and natural vivacity, but it has interesting fruit. In berg. 14. Tokay. 15. Heida or Païen. 16. Blanc rocks. ‘I grow around thirty grape varieties with addition, like Brunello it tends to go brown very d’Arbois. 17. Giolay. 18. Guet. 19. Prie. 20. Blan- quite a few curiosities such as Zweigelt or Gre- quickly. Since it is also a very productive grape, chet.’ For reds, the journalist lists: ‘1. Petit nache, not forgetting a whole range of Valais vari- it is not necessarily a variety I would advise, but Bourgogne, Petit Gamet. 2. Dôle. 3. Cor- eties’, explains this amateur painter whose entire modern techniques mean that you can do inter- taillod. 4. Bailoz. 5. Salvaguin. 6. Ordinary bottle production is sold to a very loyal custom- esting things with it and I am proud to say that Valais red. 7. Reise Rouge. 8. Muscat Rouge. er base. In the 1990s he was interested in Rèze I am daring to sell it’, explains this winemaker 9. Arvine Rouge. 10. Guet Rouge. 11. Po- Rouge, a variety referenced in an 1862 publica- who estimates that he will be able to produce lenceau. 12. Gorron. 13. Teinturier. 14. Rouge tion (see inset to the right). ‘White Rèze was like 600 to 700 bottles from the thousand square d’Italie. 15. Gros Rouge Croquant. 16. Bor- the medicinal wine of central Valais. It provided metres he has planted. Named Careize, this bar- deaux. 17. Veiret.’ Whilst great connoisseurs acidity and depth to slightly watery Fendant. By rel-aged curiosity is only sold in cases of three of the vineyard might recognise Tokay as analogy, you would imagine that Rèze Rouge bottles (120 francs). It also went down very well Pinot Gris or Bordeaux as Cabernet, like would play a similar role for red wines. I talked to at the 2018 New Arrivals tasting presented in the all top specialists they will remain dubious senior colleagues, who confirmed that the plants October 2018 French edition of VINUM. about Arvine Rouge or Blanc d’Arbois.

Photo: Régis Colombo/diapo.ch Régis Photo: I had set aside were a 99 % match to what win- www.orcyre.ch

DECEMBER 2018 VALAIS SWISS WINE | VINUM 11 VINE

   Die    Without going so far as to suggest that this Rèze offspring might be one of the future stars of the Valais vineyards, Dr. José Vouillamoz – who has played a key role in each of the revivals described in this section – views Diolle as such a promising grape that he has joined forces with Didier Joris to bring it to the market.

‘The earliest mention of Diolle dates back to 1654, unknown father. ‘Contrary to what Adrien Berger carboys to minimise outside influences as far as and the latest reference is in 1903’, explains this stated in 1903, Diolle is not the offspring of Chas- possible.’ Whilst waiting for new plantations, the globally recognised specialist in grape variety selas, but everything else matched up, including few bottles marketed by the duo will be sold ‘at DNA. After that, this decaying grape variety from the visual description of the plant and its viticul- an unreasonable price, because we will drink around Conthey and Savièse – considered to be tural characteristics: so in 2007 I was able to an- anything that is not sold anyway’. the offspring of Rèze and Chasselas (if you be- nounce the revival of Diolle.’ www.josevouillamoz.com lieve the observations of the last ampelographer Five years later, the author of ‘Swiss Grape Va- to mention the variety at the end of the last cen- rieties’ – the source of the scientific information tury) – disappeared. Its tale was picked up again featured in this report – talked to Didier Joris. VinEsch: a safe haven in 2005. ‘The University of Neuchâtel commis- This man of the soil wanted to plant ‘something sioned me for a project that consisted of cata- special in a small plot of 300 square metres’, so for rarities loguing the genetic profile of all the vines grown the man of science told him the tale of Diolle. Founded by Josef-Marie Chanton (who in the country. I therefore used the media to ask They shook hands, and next year 300 Diolle presents Lafnetscha on page 6) and José winegrowers to send me any oddities that they vines were taking root on the peaks of Chamo- Vouillamoz, the VinEsch association unites had growing on their estates’, José Vouillamoz son. Unfortunately, the rootstock selected was numerous fans of old grape varieties who explains. ‘Among various more or less widely not suitable and it all had to be dug back up two have been inspired by the idea of pre- known varieties, an unidentified viticultural sub- years later. ‘Two bunches survived’, José Vouilla- serving a heroic vineyard on the slopes ject emerged.’ The mysterious plant was sent in moz says. ‘Didier Joris was determined to make of the Vispertal valley. In the hamlet of by Germain Héritier, a Savièse winemaker. ‘He it into a wine, and we were each able to drink a Esch, eighteen terraces that can only be told me that the two vines, which were growing thimbleful of this first Diolle.’ In 2015, everything accessed on foot are home to numerous on a vineyard wall, dated from at least 1946, the was replanted on a more suitable rootstock. ‘We native grape varieties. Alongside Com- year in which the wall was built. In addition, he harvested eight kilos in 2017, or six bottles of a pleter, Gouais, Himbertscha and Cornalin, explained that these plants had tended to gra- that astonished us. On an aromatic at VinEsch you will also find Roter, an dually wither until the arrival of treatments ap- level, the citrus notes were reminiscent of a Païen unknown grape variety shows that it is the plied by helicopter, which allowed them to also or Petite Arvine, but with much more acidity’, offspring of a Calabrian grape. There is benefit from plant protection products’, conti- explains the delighted producer, who hopes that also a second red grape variety: it has no nues the biologist who has now begun a more the 2018 harvest will allow them to reach the name and no recognisable fingerprint, but systematic analysis of the genetic heritage of this 150-bottle threshold. ‘To retain the purity of this this ‘anonymous birth’ has been found in unknown variety from the hillsides of Sion. The crystalline grape variety, we worked the vines by various Valais vineyards, suggesting that DNA revealed that it was the offspring of Rèze (a hand using organic principles. In the winery, the it was once cultivated relatively widely in white grape variety that was very widespread in wine was made with as few inputs as possible the canton. the canton until the arrival of phylloxera, and is (only SO2 was used), and I even asked Didier Jo- www.vinesch.ch referenced in annals as far back as 1313) and an ris to vinify our Diolle in 54-litre and 24-litre glass

12 VINUM | SWISS WINE VALAIS DECEMBER 2018 ‘In 2017 we harvested eight kilos of Die, or six boes of a white wine at astished us.’ Dr José Vouillamoz ampelographer Photo: Régis Colombo/diapo.ch Régis Photo: