Opening hours

Open from March to November

Wednesday to Friday: 2 PM – 6 PM

Saturday and Sunday: 11 AM – 6 PM

Contact

Wine Museum – Sierre
027 456 35 25

Wine Museum – Salgesch
027 456 45 25

Grape varieties

Heida, aka Païen, Upper Valais’s Vin Jaune

People tend to think “Heidi” when they hear “Heida”, and not without reason, for this grape’s history and identity have their roots in our mountainsides.

Heida signifies old or ancient, a literal translation from an Upper Valais dialect, referring to the time before the arrival of Christianity, pagan times (Wolf, 1886). Similarly, we find Heidenhäusern (old houses) and Heido, the name of the oldest bisse (mountain irrigation channel) in Visperterminen.

French-speakers in Valais began called it Païen in 1812. The grape is none other than Savagnin Blanc from the French Jura, the grape behind the region’s famous Vin Jaune. It was brought to Valais during the Middle Ages and adapted well to the very particular terroir of Visperterminen, a village whose vines are perched on terraces that go from 650 metres altitude to 1,150 m.

Sourced from
VOUILLAMOZ José, « Les cépages au XVIe siècle : Muscat, Gouais Blanc, Gros Bourgogne et Savagnin Blanc » 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.