The Iron Age
The first traces of viticulture
Grapes have been cultivated and wine drunk in Valais since the Iron Age, well before the Roman period. Viticulture was likely introduced around 500 BC by our neighbours from northern Italy or Ticino, at that time under Celtic and Greek-Etruscan influence. The analysis of remains of vegetation in Lake Montorge in Sion shows evidence of grape-growing activity earlier than 500 BC. Grape seeds with their pedicels from this period as well as goblets and trottola vases found at the archeological site in Gamsen indicate that wine was a beverage that had become very much a part of consumption habits during the Iron Age (600 to 15 BC).
Gamsen/Waldmatte grape seed from the Iron Age (between 800 and 500 BC)