1500-1850: time of the pioneers

When the Middles Ages ended, and despite political upheavals, the same economic system of subsistence farming continued. However, village communities and patrician families continued steadily to play their hands. Trading thus began to develop, notably on a regional level: sales and purchases of wine, country inns and local taverns were supplied with stocks, as were people in Upper Valley’s non-wine-producing area.

Some enterprising owners experimented with techniques for improving the quality of the wine, making a profit from their harvest and looking for new markets. They were the precursors of the commercial wine production of the future.

Goblet in hammered silver with sides and foot heat-treated with gold. Engraved with the arms of Adrien V of Riedmatten, elected prince-bishop of Sion in 1672. History Museum, Sion. Photo MVVV/R Hofer.