ST-PIERRE-DE-CLAGES, VALAIS
Continuing along the main road from Vétroz to Saint-Pierre-de-Clages, you can hardly miss the celebrated vineyards of Chamoson dominated by its massive (and much-photographed) cône de dejection. This cone-shaped dump of limestone, schist and gravel of glacial origin was formed around 5,000 years ago and swept down from on high by the Losentse and St André rivers that flow into the Rhone. In these prime winegrowing sites, whose soils are to vines as clover to pigs, the domaine of Simon Maye & Fils has some of their best vineyards.
Simon Maye founded the family enterprise in 1948. His original plan to emigrate to Canada was shelved and instead he studied law, after which he changed course again and chose wine-making. By the mid-1970s he had already fixed himself the objective of making top-class wine. At a time when quantity was still favoured over quality and most vine-growers were part-time vignerons du samedi, selling their grapes either to neighbouring concerns or to Provins in Sion, the domaine was among the first in the Valais to bottle all their own wines. Over decades, they have quietly established themselves as one of the region’s premier estates.
Today Simon’s sons Axel and Jean-François are at the helm, together with their son and nephew Raphäel, who completed his studies at the Changins school of viticulture and oenology and worked in Australia and Italy before joining the family team with responsibilities both in the cellar and the vineyards. Another key member of the team is Antoinette, Raphäel’s grandmother. She divides her time between tending her beautiful garden and filling the orders, as well as looking after the many visitors while someone is sent to find Jean-François in the vineyards or to dig Raphäel out of the cellar. Eighty percent of their wine is sold at the door and everything that is bottled in July is sold out by the end of September. A personal visit or phone call is the only sure way to secure an allocation of their precious wines.
They farm 12 hectares in and around the village and make around 20 different wines. Interestingly, their three different Chasselas have either invented names (Fauconnier) or are named for the plot where they grow (Trémazières and Moette); none is labelled Fendant, the usual Valaisan name for the grape, because for a long time Axel and Jean-François considered the name to be devalued, evoking a nondescript quaffing wine rather than their own respectfully made, terroir-based version. Each one is lively and unusually crisp, thanks to the fact that there’s no secondary, acid-softening fermentation; all make the perfect aperitif, says Jean-François, or a good match with a fragrant hunk of aged alp cheese. Made of sterner stuff is their old-vine Chardonnay, full-bodied and full of personality, with discreetly oaky hints.
Where Simon Maye really shines is with their reds. They make a very decent, Pinot-rich Dôle, for which they have a faithful following – Jean-François recommends giving theirs at least a year’s grace rather than treating it like most Dôles and drinking it up no sooner bottled. I also enjoy their cheerful red blend Camuso, a kind of revisitation of the Dôle idea created in 1999 and made primarily from old-vine Pinot Noir and Gamay plus a smidgen of Merlot.
Another favourite is Humagne Rouge, a wild and wonderful wine from vines planted in the blazing hot Tzouma site, bathed in relentless alpine sun and perched right beneath the rock face. It’s not a huge keeper – Raphäel recommends drinking it up within three to five years, although on his own admission, “we sometimes get a good surprise!”
The most sought after of their red wines are their Syrahs, of which they make a regular cuvée and one labelled Vieilles Vignes (their wine in the Mémoire des Vins Suisses). Both are richly spicy and beautifully structured, confirmation that this quintessential Rhone grape belongs here in Switzerland’s Upper Rhone Valley, where in the right hands it gives wines of enormous elegance and longevity. If you can lay hands on either wine, steel yourself and hide the bottles away from prying corkscrews for at least five years.
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ADDRESS: Rue de Collombey 3 1955 St-Pierre-de-Clages CONTACT: Tel. 027 306 41 81 |
WINES TO LOOK OUT FOR: Fendant (various) Chardonnay Vieilles Vignes Dôle Camuso Humagne Rouge |
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simon.maye@teltron.ch |
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Price range 14 to 28 SFr. |
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HIGHLIGHTS: Visits welcomed by appointment at the winery. Wines may be ordered from the website. Chemin du Vignoble vineyard trail, Stage 2, Sion to Saillon |
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