Abbaye de Salaz

About Winery and Wines

The ABBAYE DE SALAZ was thus named by the monks of St Maurice who owned this country outbuilding located in the small hamlet of Salaz, in the Swiss region of Chablais Vaudois. The name was kept but the abbey is now privately-owned and attached to more land and vineyards. This estate’s activities are general agriculture, winegrowing and winemaking both performed on the spot, as well as the organization of functions. This country estate of the Abbaye de Salaz was once property of the Abbey of St Maurice, from the 11th century on. The abbey house of Salaz would later be used as an administrative centre, consisting of a courthouse and a prison. In 1636, the estate stretched over 1,700 acres of meadows, fields, forests, pastures and farms, where wines were always skilfully produced. In the 17th century, the Abbaye de Salaz was also used as an almshouse where poor people and penniless travellers could stay. Indeed, as a charitable organization, it gained the locals’ esteem but because of the debts incurred during the Sonderbund war, the estate was reduced to some 100 acres and passed on to private owners from 1851 on, in the form of successive families. Max Zbinden, a Bernese farmer, bought the estate a hundred years later... and here begins our story..

Our vineyard is built in terraces, supported by impressive dry stone walls. Mechanised work is only possible on the lower part of our vineyard. On the upper part, we do it all by hand. Attentive to the richness of nature, we try to preserve the fauna and flora of our vineyard. We grow 13 different varieties. The climate of our region is characterized by mild temperatures and the presence of foehn that allows excellent ripening of the grapes. The main part of the vineyard is located on local moraines. To the east of the vineyard, the rock is not far. Sometimes, it crops out. A legacy that has given birth to a limestone soil on which our wines express beautifully.