In 1806, a property assessment report for the village of Chamoson showed about 30 hectares planted with vineyards. By 1958, this area had grown to 226 hectares.

Since then, the vineyards have nearly doubled in size by taking over bovine pastures and orchards, and today the vineyards of Chamoson cover 427 hectares varying in altitude from 450 m to 750 m, making Chamoson the largest winegrowing commune in Valais. Given that land partition is common practice in Valais, it is not surprising that there are more than 1,200 vineyard owners and 100 wine cellars in the commune and that some plots are as small as 100 by 200 metres. Professional winegrowers now cultivate 80% of the Chamoson vineyards.

The region of Chamoson has a particularly hot, dry climate characterized by extensive sunlight (about 2,500 hours/year), regular rainfall (on average 200 mm from May to August and 570 mm over the entire year), an almost complete absence of fog, mild temperatures late into the fall, and wide variations in temperature between day and night. These climatic conditions are favourable to healthy vine growth, even though they are also conducive to spring frost.

The large dejection cone is particularly suited to growing grapes, and winegrowers have taken advantage of this by planting 90% of the region’s vineyards here. The remaining 10% are planted in a series of terraces on steeper hillsides.

A wide range of grape varieties are grown in Chamoson — 39 in all, 21 white and 18 red. Of the 427 hectares of vineyards, 250 (58%) are planted with red varieties. Pinot Noir is the predominant variety with more than 88 hectares, followed closely by Gamay with 85.6 hectares. Sylvaner (called Johannisberg in Chamoson) is the leading white variety with 71 hectares, 7 more than Chasselas.

The tradition in Valais is to refer to any variety other than Chasselas, Pinot Noir or Gamay as a specialty variety.

Specialty varieties represent more than 40% (43.9%) of the total vineyard area and have a significant impact on the image of winegrowing in the commune. Petite Arvine, Ermitage, Humagne, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Cornalin and Syrah, to name just a few, are all local jewels waiting to be discovered by lovers of fine wine.

Based on a mandate from the commune administration, the Foundation is currently setting up a classification system for a Grand Cru label.

Strict requirements must be met to qualify for this label: limited production, careful pruning, unanimous approval of the finished wine by a tasting committee, and so forth. Only bottles from the best vineyards planted with Johannisberg, Petite Arvine, Pinot Noir and Syrah are eligible for the Grand Cru label.

To learn more about the Grand Cru label, see The Wines.