In Valais, Switzerland's largest wine-growing canton with 4,941 hectares under cultivation, the vineyards wind westward along the Rhone River through the warm, dry valley. In spectacular steep slopes, valuable autochthonous grape varieties and specialties grow alongside the main varieties Pinot Noir, Chasselas (Fendant), Gamay and Sylvaner (Johannisberg). With them, Valais has a cornucopia of original, distinctive wines that hold their own with ease in the globalized wine market. They are such fabulous white varieties as Petite Arvine, Amigne, Ermitage (Marsanne Blanche), Heida (Païen or Savagnin) or Humagne Blanche. And with Cornalin and Humagne Rouge, two reds also join the phalanx of these grapes with Valais citizenship, as unique as the Matterhorn.
Near the glaciers still thrive wines with original names, long forgotten names - Lafnetscha, Himbertscha, Gwäss. Whoever deals with them enters the field of archaeology. In addition, the most beautiful noble rot dessert wines of Switzerland are produced in Valais.
