The charter has ten clearly outlined ways for the winemakers who adhere to it to fulfill the goal of promoting sweet natural wines from Valais under a Grain Noble ConfidenCiel label. Among them: only six local grape varieties – Arvine, Ermitage, Johannisberg, Malvoisie, Amigne and Païen – left to over-ripen on vines over 15 years old may be used. The wine may not be fortified (although two or more of the six varieties may be blended), and must be raised in wood for a year or more. Crucially, no wines produced in years when weather conditions do not allow grapes to overripen properly on the vine may bear the Grain Noble label.
Enologist Stephen Gay, co-founder (in 1996) and president of the group, says that the idea was his brainchild. His aim was to foster the production of the sweet natural wines that are a Valais tradition but in a quality-controlled way.
Valais ConfidenCiel: Local Varieties And Noble Rot
Ermitage, Johannisberg, Malvoisie, and Païen are what Marsanne, Sylvaner, Pinot Gris and Savagnin respectively are called in Valais. Arvine and Amigne grapes are commonly said to be unique to Valais in Switzerland. Botrytis cinerea or ‘’noble rot’’ is nothing less than what lies behind Sauternes, for example: a fungus that in Valais may develop when there’s lots of rain in early October followed by two or three weeks of warm weather. The fungus lends certain desirable aromas to wines made from grapes it has spread on.
As grapes lose water from evaporation and wither when left on the vine too long, some but not all will botrytize. ‘’The ideal for Grain Noble wines is to have 100% botrytized grapes’’, says Gay, adding that that isn’t always possible. ‘’As a result, a low percentage of merely withered (flétri) grapes, as opposed to grains rôtis or botrytized berries, may be used in our Grain Noble wines.’’
Kudos For Grain Noble Wines
One of the best-known producers of Grain Noble wines is Marie-Thérèse Chappaz of Fully, considered one of Switzerland’s best winemakers and one of the original signatories of the Grain Noble charter. Medals won by Grain Noble winemakers in international competitions include two golds awarded at Vinalies Paris in 2006 for the ‘’Amigne Mitis’’ 2002 produced by Jean-René Germanier SA in Vétroz, and a blend called ‘’Assemblage Les Grains Nobles’’ 2002 by Rouvinez Vins in Sierre.
In 2005, at VinAgora Botrytis in Hungary, an Ermitage/Malvoisie blend called ‘’Soleil de Minuit’’ (Vins Gilliard, Sion) and the ‘’Johannisberg Saint-Martin’’ 2003 produced by Domaine du Mont d’Or in Pont-de-la-Morge won gold, while silver medals were awarded to two wines produced by Provins Valais in Sion: ‘’Ermitage Tourbillon’’ 2001, and ‘’Grain de Malice’’ 2003, a blend.
Alcohol levels of Grain Noble ConfidenCiel wines are in the 15% area. The wines are best served with terrines or foie gras, or with dark chocolate desserts.
Other Sweet Swiss Wines
Other sweet wines besides the Grain Noble wines are produced in Valais, indeed in all six of Switzerland’s wine regions, Valais being the largest. The others by order of volume produced annually are Vaud, Geneva, Ticino, the Swiss-German cantons including Graubünden, and the Three Lakes area around Neuchâtel.
The techniques used to make late harvest wines may only infrequently involve (probably only partially) botrytized berries, more frequently berries left on the vine to over-ripen sometimes until partially or completely withered. Other ways of making sweet wines in Switzerland include air-drying the bunches in well-ventilated premises and cryogenics.
Readers interested in Valais wines or Swiss wines in general may wish to read The Real Vin Du Glacier, The Many Faces of Chasselas, and Switzerland's Wines.
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