Although Domaine Chappaz has been making wines in the wine-growing lands of Switzerland since the first half of the 20th century, today it is impossible to separate it from its talented owner: Marie-Thérèse Chappaz. Not pre-destined to become a winegrower, she has put her determination and her vision to the benefit of the family estate in order to restore it to its former glory.
A few years after having finished training in the arts of viticulture and oenology, she inherited the Chappaz lands and vines. With only one and a half hectares of vines, the area is obviously not enough to live on. But thanks to her ambition, Marie-Thérèse Chappaz has now succeeded in bringing together all the plots of the historic vineyard owned by her great-uncle, i.e. 10 hectares, that she radiates with her know-how. It is therefore very natural that she was awarded the titles of Lady of Wine at the Villa d'Este Wine Symposium in 2015 and Icon of Swiss wine by Gault et Millau in 2016.
Located in the heart of Europe, in the canton of Valais in Switzerland, the first wine-growing region of the country, Domaine Chappaz enjoys an exceptional terroir. There, vines on stone terraces take root on the right bank of the Rhône, on south-facing slopes.
With a vineyard that extends across the villages of Fully, Charrat, Leytron and Chamoson at an altitude varying from 450 meters to 800 meters, the vines of the Chappaz estate benefit from a varied soil and an ideal climate. Indeed, some 2,000 hours of sunshine per year and a granite soil covered with loess enhance the character of native grape varieties, such as Petite Arvine, Humagne Rouge, or Syrah and Marsanne.
To respect this exceptionally rich terroir, Marie-Thérèse Chappaz opts for the biodynamic approach and a low interventionist policy in the cellar. This love for nature is felt in the estate's wines, which embody authenticity and quality. Witnesses to a past, a terroir and a philosophy, Chappaz wines express the best of what great Swiss wines have to offer.
