Before 1820 it was common for pigs and sheep to wander freely in Valais vineyards, which are spread out at the time, often bordered by fields that hold animals. The vineyards are a natural place for the animals, especially in communes that have little grazing land.

Pierre-François Ballalu, a chanoine at the St Bernard hospice, kept a logbook at the hospice from 1698 to 1718. We learn from it that members of this religious community drink wine three times a day with their meals which consist mainly of bread and meat.

Turbidity, acidity, sourness, staleness, mould – wine faults were numerous in the Middle Ages. The long list of remedies includes some methods that have been lost to us today. We learn in household books from the 18^th century that to make red wine clearer and to get rid of the lees, you should always add an egg white.

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.

Early travelers were fascinated by Valais wines

Numerous authors have described the Rhone valley in their chronicles and tales of travels, dating back to the Renaissance. They speak of the exceptional climate, the rich soil, the diverse cultures and the quality of the wines. They point to the compelling contrast between the “fearsome” and “wild” Alpine peaks and the “sunny and picturesque farmland” of the plain.

The Chablais region entered the industrial era at the start of the 20^th century, well before central Valais. Large chemical and metallurgy companies opened in Monthey, building on an industrial complex that began several years earlier with the glass-making business. Communal authorities banked on this development as early as 1893, when the town’s 3,000 inhabitants still relied on agriculture for most of their income.

Savièse, with its 300 hectares of vines, is one of the largest wine-producing communes in Valais today. The end of the 19^th century was a different story altogether.

Riddes, Saxon, Charrat: on the left bank of the Rhone river, one chooses between vines and apricots, depending on the market and subsidies. Before 1850, agriculture was limited to the hillsides and dejection cones.

There are many legends about the origins of Valais wine. They often confirm that our ancestral grape varieties were brought in by Roman garrisons. But it’s important to know that Latin writers did not have the same notions about grape variety that we have today.

Hardly any amphores, very few beautiful vessels – in ancient times, people in Valais were happy to drink their wine from goblets imported from Italy. These delicate ceramic recipients appeared in the Upper Valais, at the archeological site of  Gamsen, near Brig. These are pieces produced between the 7^th and 9^th centuries BC.  Their small size provides an interesting detail: people in Valais drank their wine uncut – no water added.

Hardly any amphores, very few beautiful vessels – in ancient times, people in Valais were happy to drink their wine from goblets imported from Italy. These delicate ceramic recipients appeared in the Upper Valais, at the archeological site of  Gamsen, near Brig. These are pieces produced between the 7^th and 9^th centuries BC.  Their small size provides an interesting detail: people in Valais drank their wine uncut – no water added.

The largest wineries in Valais were taking part in wine competitions by the middle of the 19^th century. These noted tastings were most often organized as part of major events such as the Swiss agricultural exposition, cantonal exposition and Swiss national exposition. The easiest traces of this comes from  the wines at Domaine du Mont d’Or (Pont-de-la-Morge): from the Bern Exposition in 1857 to the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889, we can still follow the performances of the wines from this highly reputed domain, noted on certain  labels.

Downy mildew attacked vines towards the end of the 19^th century. The canton in Valais gave the alarm in 1892. Growers who do not put up a fight against the new diseases will lose their vines. A weapon arrives to neutralize this parasite fungus, a blue preparation made with copper: the Bordeaux mixture.

Valais viticulture for a long time followed its own rules. Older documents indicate that there were not always stakes and that many vines grew beyond their supports. The systems used for replanting vines (using versannes; provignage – tip-layering; and layering) gave vineyards a completely different look from today’s. Grape varieties were mixed together, plants were not aligned and the density of planting was very high  - up to 30,000 vines per hectare (three to four times as dense as today)!

Until the mid-20^th century, wine is served to workers of the land throughout the day; it is considered a food whose energy-giving qualities are equal to that of a thick broth. Workers drink straight from the mouth of the kegs and barrels filled directly in the cellar. These wooden “bottles” are everywhere present during work in the vineyards; they are known by many names and come in many sizes, from 3 dl to 3 litres. Several fine examples are on display at the Wine Museum in Sierre. 

Harvests leave a strong mark in the memories of oldtimers, as a time for rejoicing yet a time of fatigue. Trails were long and tiring in this countryside where vine parcels were scattered around and where some farmers were agricultural nomads who moved between plain and mountain. Valais doesn’t have grand harvest festivals. But the intense activity around cellars leads to several festive local customs.

Pruning and disbudding are tasks that have for a long time been considered work for men, while women have handled the work with leaves: attaching, deleafing, pinching back unwanted shoots. Among these leaf workers are working women from Valais, from the Martigny region, who join groups from the nearby Italian region of the Aosta Valley to work the vines of large landowners and vineyard overseers in canton Vaud. Payslips show that women and children were paid less than men for work on the land and harvesting.

Dionysius, the god of wine, is also a healer. Since Antiquity, people have attributed medicinal properties to wine: a “hot” and “living” drink because it results from fermentation, a liquid associated with blood – the source of strength and life. Wine is seen to have the powers of a vital fluid, capable of regenerating the body in times of weakness and sickness.