Domaine de Beudon

Switzerland, Valais

The Story

While the wine world is not short on stunning locales, Domaine de Beudon is a truly exceptional place, seeming more worthy of a fairy tale than winemaking. It is a bucolic farm perched atop a mountain in the Alps, in the highest part of Switzerland's largest wine region, the Valais. While less than two hours by car from Geneva, the domaine feels far removed from the world. Part of this comes from the inaccessible location– with an elevation of almost 900 meters, Beudon has earned the nickname “the vineyard in the sky”. Access to this magical spot is granted only by two startling routes: a slow, rocking ride up a tiny, rickety 3-person cable car, or a 90-minute climb by foot along a path so steep that ropes have been fixed to the rocks to aid weary climbers. Regardless of arrival method, the reward is an onslaught of dramatic views and an overwhelming sense of being on top of the world.

At the top, standing amongst what seems to be the clouds and staring down a literal cliff-face of vines, it’s hard to imagine how the domaine’s founder Jacky Granges stood in this same spot and envisaged this was an ideal locale for vine growing.

The name Beudon refers to the word bidon, which means belly, and is a nod to the bulging outcrop where most of the vines grow. The 6 hectares of southern-facing vineyards descend the mountain at elevations from 890 to 464 metres above sea level, on inclines that start at 35 degrees and reach a terrifying 90 degrees in some areas. Merely walking through this steep, rocky terrain is highly challenging, so it’s hard to imagine how cultivating vines is possible. But a trio of hardworking women– Marion, Severine and Delphine Grange– ensure that the vines thrive, alongside an array of fruit trees, medicinal herbs, flowers and roaming livestock.

The vines sit between two rock formations– a crystalline massif and a limestone plateau– on soils that are mostly granite, with some limestone and moraines, the stones left behind after the Rhone glacier melted. A stream in a nearby gorge provides the water necessary for household use and crops, and a waterfall powers a small hydroelectric plant for a reliable source of renewable energy. Jacky believed conserving these natural riches required gentle agriculture, and when he began in 1970s, he strove to eliminate any synthetic products– first in the vineyards at the top of the mountain, then on all levels of the farm and for all crops. The entire production evolved to be in harmony with nature and in 1993 the domaine was certified as the first biodynamic vineyard in Switzerland. That status remains a badge of honour for the family, as they feel their efforts prove that if biodynamics is possible in a place like Beudon, then it can be done anywhere.

The local Valaisan grape varieties have pride of place here, with the whites growing at higher altitudes, and many of the reds growing lower, closer to the the cellar. The domaine now cultivates almost 20 varieties, with Petite Arvine, Fendant (Chasselas), Gamaret and Diolinoir dominating the plantings.

It is not only grapes that come from these mountainous slopes, the vinification begins there too. White varieties are pressed on-site in the vineyard and the juice is sent down to the winery in the valley for fermentation, via a long thin pipe that descends hundreds of metres from the vineyard to the cellar. Red grapes, which need to undergo maceration, are collected and placed in small boxes which are brought down to the valley underneath the cable car.

“In the cave we work in the most natural way possible. I have to make new wines, but have to make them the old way.” Severine

At Beudon the goal is as little human intervention as possible: spontaneous fermentation with ambient yeasts, no battonage, no fining and no filtering. All wines spend 11 months in cuve and are bottled at the end of August or early September to ready the vessels for next harvest. Stainless steel is used primarily to preserve the typicity of each grape, and now a few cuvées are aged in barrels for 3-4 years to improve tannins and age-ability.

The wines reflect the pure mountain air of the vineyards, and when young are deliciously light and subtle, becoming layered and complex with age, and could rival old vintages from the more famous regions just over the border in France. The quality and richness of the wines– from the newest release to great old vintages– prove that the efforts required to make wine here are indeed worth it. As you might imagine given the conditions, production is very small, and Beudon wines rarely make it out of Switzerland. Thus we are extremely proud to offer a range of their cuvées going all the way back to 2004.

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The People

Marion, Severine and Delphine

The steep high hills of the Valais are an inhospitable place for any agriculture venture, let alone the first biodynamic Swiss vineyard. Jacques Granges, affectionately known as Jacky, often said that people thought he was crazy– crazy to move up to isolated Beudon as a single young man, crazy to painstakingly build terraces on a steep rocky face and crazy to convert to biodynamics in the 1990s, long before anyone else. He was very much a man before his time, whose forward-thinking vision continues in the legacy of his wines.

Jacky settled in the Valais in 1971, just after finishing his doctorate in lutte biologie, the science of pest management. He met Marion, who trained as a horticulturist, and they married quickly. She left her job in a botanical garden in Geneva to join Jacky in Beudon. Marion’s father had known Rudolph Steiner, the creator of biodynamic farming, and had come to the area to raise biodynamic vegetables. So when Marion arrived she was eager to put some of those principles into action. At the domaine she learned grape cultivation from Jacky and later led the push towards a cleaner and more responsible viticulture.

At first Jacky and Marion just produced grapes, selling the juice to the nearby cooperative cellar. But in the 1990s Jacky came up with the idea to bring a press up to the mountain and use tubes to pipe the juice down to a cellar in the valley below. The domaine made the transition to biodynamics around the same time, and soon after started to bottle its own wines. Their cuvées quickly earned a reputation for quality, and two decades later the wines had found homes in top restaurants around the world, often being the only Swiss options on those lists.

Jacky sadly passed away in 2016, but Marion and her two daughters Severine and Delphine continue his dream. Today Marion still lives in the house just steps away from the top of the cable car, where she keeps a watchful on all that happens in the vines. Severine handles most of the daily operations and is especially focused on grape growing. She shares her mother’s passion for plants and ensures the vines continue to be pampered with herbal teas and essential oils and plenty of personal attention. On our recent tour, she pointed out no less than a dozen flowers, trees or cacti that are unique to the domaine and essential to its biodiversity program. Delphine, a professional violinist, handles more of the administrative side, and both sisters travel to promote Beudon and the wines.

For many years the domaine has rented a winemaking cellar in the valley from Pierre-Antoine Crettenand, who has also served as their vinification consultant. They also employ teams of seasonal workers to help with the vineyard management and harvest, but Severine admits that finding loyal staff in such a difficult-to-access place is a constant challenge. Severine lives in a village a short drive from the base of the cable car and spends most of her days atop the mountain– supervising the team, doing vine and soil maintenance and making biodynamic preparations.

The Place

Valais, Switzerland

The famous Rhône river that most wine lovers associate with France actually starts in Switzerland. It rises in the Alps, passes through Lake Geneva and then runs through southeastern France. The river's source is the Rhône Glacier, which is not far from Domaine de Beudon at the east edge of the canton of Valais. On the right bank of the Rhône, between Martigny and Saillon, is the town of Fully– known for its particularly warm climate, its fertile plain and its numerous hamlets clinging to the granite and gneiss slopes. The plots that makeup Domaine de Beudon hover above Fully, just south of the tiny hamlet of Beudon.

When Jacky and Marion settled here in the early 1970s, most farmers in the Valais were abandoning the mountainous slopes in favour of the fertile plain along the river. Many high-elevation vineyards were abandoned, and most viticulture was moved down to the valley. But Jacky saw as many positives as negatives in the challenging terrain. The south-facing sites mean ripe fruit from sun-filled days and long hang times, high acidity thanks to cool nights and moderate summer temperatures that limit alcohol. The vines are exposed to exceptional amounts of not-too-intense sun and achieve a depth, quality and personality unique to the domaine.

The parcels are nestled between oak, pine, chestnut and almond trees, and flanked by fields of aromatic herbs and medicinal plants. Many of the trees were grown by a local farmer in his backyard, then brought up in the cable car and planted on their land. Severine is thankful there are no direct neighbours, which means the domaine’s onerous plant biodiversity is protected.

Even though the site is difficult to access for humans, four-legged visitors from the mountains are plentiful. Deer, ibex, foxes, badgers and even camels wander into the parcels but are largely harmless. The greatest threat to the grapes is the many species of birds, who so enjoy nibbling on grape buds that Severine has to put out nets during veraison. “It’s not ideal, but in the end, we have to have grapes to vinify,” she says. Throughout her childhood here Severine would wake each morning to the sounds of these birds, and on our visit we heard their singing, though they had to fight to be heard over the rush of a waterfall crashing down the gorge at the edge of the domaine.

“Now, after 30 years of biodynamics, the soil is changed. It has a life of its own.”

Walking through the parcels, dozens of butterflies floated around us. Severine proudly explained that thanks to a special microclimate and the biodiversity of their land, the domaine is the area with the most butterflies in all of Switzerland. Watching their coloured wings flit between iris flowers, almond trees and grape vines is mesmerising.

Beudon is a magical spot that bests even the most cliché postcard image of Switzerland. Just as I was fighting the urge to yodel, Severine, seeming to read my mind, mentioned Ricola! Many years ago Marion removed rows of vines to plant fields of thyme & verbena, originally for her own use. But for some time now, their excess herbs have been sold to Ricola for use in their iconic lozenges.

Down on the plain, the domaine grows apples, cereals, more medicinal and aromatic herbs and vegetables. Marion prepared us a lovely casual lunch from local products, mostly from their land, and the fresh asparagus and juicy strawberries are an indelible memory. As plate after plate of food emerged from the kitchen, Severine paired each with one of their wines and explained the vision behind each cuvée.

Sitting at the lunch table, perched atop the mountain, enjoying the pleasant warmth of the sun, a gentle mountain breeze and the clean Swiss air, I suddenly felt envious of the vines. They get to indulge in this bounty for months, whereas I had to soon set off for the long hike back down the mountain. I resisted Severine’s offer to lug a few bottles along, thankful for a deep stock of Beudon wines back on terra firma in London.