Last weekend we took advantage of the late October sunshine to head out of Vaud into Valais in search of wine.

Entering Valais from Vaud always seems dramatic to me. You turn your back on the quiet splendours of Lake Geneva and head east along the wide, flat, sun-drenched floor of the Rhone valley, carved out by a long-ago glacier, that cut a path between two huge mountain ranges that now house ski resorts like Crans Montana and Verbier.

We were headed for the small village of St.Pierre De Clages looking to sample the
Cédric Flaction wines which we’d recently enjoyed at a restaurant.

St. Pierre De Clages

When we got there, we found he was closed on Saturday so we walked through vineyards-

View east towards Sion from the St Pierre De Clages vineyards

A path between the vines at the foot of the mountain

The terraces carved into the side of the mountain

View north to Chamoson

We went back down into the village and sampled the wine at La Pleine Lune (The Full Moon) Cave, next to a medieval Church. The people were friendly, the atmosphere was relaxed and the wine was good. We bought L’Ermitage, a smooth, intense, wine, made from late-picked marsanne grapes. Its gorgeous amber colour made it seem like sunshine in a glass.