Perched above the main road in the handsome village of Leuk is Vin d’Oeuvre, a young, boutique winery that has blazed a considerable trail since its foundation in 2012 by Isabella and Stéphane Kellenberger. The winery’s name, a playful portmanteau word that combines elements of main d’oeuvre (workforce) and vin (wine), is picked up on their labels by a splayed-out handprint. The effect is partly that of a friendly salutation, partly a reflection of the hands-on philosophy of this young winemaking couple.
Originally from Bern, both Isabella and Stéphane studied at the Changins school of viticulture and oenology. On graduation they took turns around the vineyards of the New World, notching up between them visits to New Zealand, Chile, California and South Africa. “We’d always dreamed of working abroad to gain international winemaking experience”, explains Isabella. Each of the wineries they worked in were huge, industrial concerns – and about as different from today’s Vin d’Oeuvre operation as it’s possible to imagine.
In 2012, after their various peregrinations and valuable experiences making wine for other people, they decided to do their own thing. Though neither are from the Valais, the region seemed like an obvious choice to them. How come? “It has a great climate and there are so many different grapes that ripen well here”, says Isabella, adding that Stéphane had already worked in the region and knew it well.
After some searching, they found a small winery in the centre of the Leuk, whose owners were ready for retirement and had no successors. The winery building is vintage 1960s, which puts it at odds with the beautifully preserved medieval stone Rathaus and Bishop’s Palace below, but it suits their purposes just fine. At the start the Kellenbergers had two hectares, which has now progressed to four. Their vineyard plots – over 30 of them – are distributed like small jewels at various points along the valley, from the heights of Visperterminen all the way down to Fully, the last village before the Rhone turns sharply north, heading for Lake Geneva.
The majority of their tiny holding is centred around Leuk in vineyards hewn out of rough, limestone-rich soils that vary between 600 and 650 metres altitude. They also have a small plot of Heida (Savagnin Blanc) in Visperterminen, planted at altitudes above 1000 metres on near-vertical, southeast-facing slopes, exposed summer and winter to the blazing alpine sun. The clay component in amongst the predominant slate and gravel in these soils makes the most of conserving the meagre ration of rain that falls, though without drip-irrigation the vines here – as elsewhere in the Valais – would struggle to survive.
Further down, above the village of Raron, is their most recent addition, a south-facing, funnel-shaped vineyard situated at 800 metres altitude, which they have painstakingly (with the emphasis on ‘pain’) reshaped and replanted, mainly with Completer. Though this ancient and extremely rare variety has history here in the Valais, it is more commonly associated with Graubünden, where it was first recorded in the 14th century. In some ways it seems a surprising choice – it’s not as if the Valais doesn’t have multiple specialities of its own to play with – “but we agreed on it and we both love it!” exclaims Isabella. It’s clear this is a strong partnership in which important, long-term decisions – like the choice of a new variety, which will take at least three years to start producing wine and live for many decades – are jointly taken.
Finally, at the far end of the valley on the eye-rubbingly steep slopes above Fully they have a small plot of old-vine Gamay planted within Les Follatères nature reserve. The shallow soils over a bedrock of granite, the extreme steepness of the slopes and a microclimate that is a mixture of Mediterranean and continental with the customary low rainfall of the Valais combine to give the wine a dimension well beyond what the Beaujolais grape more commonly delivers.
In total they make over a dozen different wines, though this varies from year to year as new wines (such as the Completer-in-waiting) come in, others drop out, or a particular variety falls prey to late frosts or any of the other capricious weather events that characterise the Valais. Each wine has its poetic handle, many of them in English. A fresh, light Chasselas is subtitled “a sigh in the sky”, Humagne Blanc is “born to be wise” while its racy counterpart Humagne Rouge (no relation, ampelographically speaking) is “born to be wild”. The entry-level, fruit-forward Pinot Noir chant du Rhône sings of the Rhone below, while its more complex, oaked sister is noblesse oblige. For a spicy-smooth, easy-drinking red, try the Gamaret-Syrah blend (“red temptation”). It’s always interesting to hear a winemaker’s view on which of their wines go with which food, a subject we explored briefly together (Chasselas with fondue – or better still, Humagne Blanc). But, concludes Isabella with a smile: “Our wines go best with friends!”
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ADDRESS: Gintig 4 3953 Leuk CONTACT: Tel. 027 473 38 38 |
WINES TO LOOK OUT FOR: Heida Chasselas Humagne Blanc Johannisberg Assemblage Rouge Humagne Rouge |
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info@vindoeuvre.ch |
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Price range 15 to 56 SFr. |
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HIGHLIGHTS: No regular opening hours, but visits are welcomed by appointment. Chemin du Vignoble vineyard trail, Stage 4 between Leuk and Venthône Les Follatères Nature Trail, Fully to Dorénaz |
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