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Did you know?
People in Valais have always drunk their wine uncut Valais producers have a taste for competitions To fight mildew, the vines were sulphated with a broom Before 1850, the vineyard looked like a forest of vines Wine is drunk like water until the mid-20th century The brisolée is born with the harvest Men prune, women deleaf New mothers drank up to one litre of warm wine a day Pigs wandered among the vines in the Middle Ages The Grand St Bernard chanoines drank in secret In the 18th century, egg whites were used to clarify red wine Wine was a good way to poison your enemies Early travelers were fascinated by Valais wines Industry killed the vines in Monthey Before the 20th century, there were practically no vines in Savièse Saxon, always a balance between grapes and apricots Amigne and Humagne did not arrive with the Romans
Did you know ?

Wine was a good way to poison your enemies

During witch hunts, some of the evil deeds that were denounced were linked to wine. In 1429, for example, Jeannette Boson from Lens was accused of witchcraft by the village inhabitants. A certain Pierre refused to sell his field and she made him drink a wine that made him very ill. In Vex, a woman who cast spells offers wine poisoned with toad’s venom to a woman giving birth, who never gets up again.

Marriage crimes

Poison appears in marriage crimes as well. Léonard Borter tried to kill his wife Guillemette in Sion in 1501. He went to an apothecary to buy rat poison, arsenic mixed with ground walnuts and pitch. During the noon meal the husband asked his wife to go get some water in order to take advantage of her absence to add poison to the spinach. The victim took several bites but she suddenly noticed the bitterness in the dish and she began to have pains in her heart, stomach and chest. Suspecting her husband, she tried to vomit by drinking eau-de-vie, then using a feather soaked in oil. During the evening, still feeling quite ill and very thirsty, she grabbed a glass with a handle and filled it with a liquid she thought to be wine, and she drank the contents. Unfortunately, it, too, was poisoned. The young woman again had pains in her chest, stronger than before. Still in pain, she took to her bed, but had to spit up frequently. It was only the next day that she received the first remedy from a friend who guessed she had been poisoned. The young woman pulled through, but rumours circulated in Sion that Léonard had given her a nasty drink – to the point where he had to leave Valais to escape the judicial authorities.

Premeditation and treachery

Léonard Borter’s action is a crime of lèse majesté – treason. Responsibility for his punishment fell to the prince-bishop. This is why Borter is condemned in absentia and his goods seized by the bishop of Sion. Nevertheless, in 1503 Léonard receives a pardon and is able to return to Valais. His family and friends speak of his “simplicity” as well as his youth and the fact that his attempt failed.

Sourced from
AMMANN-DOUBLIEZ Chantal, « Lorsque la sorcellerie s’empare du vin » in Histoire de la Vigne et du Vin en Valais : des origines à nos jours, Sierre-Salgesch, Musée valaisan de la Vigne et du Vin, Gollion, Infolio, 2009.

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