With unbridled energy and at a rapid pace, 23-year-old Clément Luisier from Valais is realizing his dreams in Saillon VS. His success story is impressive. At the age of 18, still in his second year of training, he persuaded his parents to sell him some of their grapes so that he could make his own wine and open his own cellar. Although the Luisier family had long owned 11.5 hectares of vines between Saillon and Leytron, until Clément's initiative, the entire harvest was sold to other Valais winegrowers. Clément's first wine, the 2018 vintage, was very well received. As a result, the young winemaker tripled production to over 10,000 bottles in 2019 and expanded his range to eight wines. In 2020, the now qualified winemaker increased production again and began further training as a cellar master at the same time.
The ambitious Luisier took every opportunity for further training. As a big Bordeaux fan, he worked at Château Leoville-Las-Cases in St-Julien for three months in 2021 while a winemaker friend looked after his cellar. With the current 2023 harvest, he is already processing 80 percent of his parents' grapes and plans to expand the area under cultivation to 15 hectares. Two hectares are already cultivated organically and two more are in the process of conversion. He welcomes visitors in a newly refurbished carnotzet and offers various tasting experiences, from simple tastings with a tour of the cellar to a "gourmet version" with a meat platter and raclette. This commitment to oenotourism is important to him and he would like to expand it further and develop new concepts. Clément Luisier firmly believes in the great potential of Valais wines and wants to convince his customers of this: "I invest a lot in the development of great wines from our magnificent Valais terroir."
