1600: Priests at the controls
Priests, curés and chanoines from the Ancien Régime had as their jobs to take care of vines. They often turned over this work to others for periods of time that varied -, one, three, eight, ten, twenty years or even for life. Sharing the harvest between the owner and the renter happened in place, with each one having tasks to fulfill (repairs, irrigation, transport). Several rental contracts, dating from the start of the 17th century, encourage renters to plant vines on abandoned land or in the fields. Thus it was that 18 April 1602 the overseer of Sion, Adrien de Riedmatten, gave a lease to Jean Rossoz, who lived in Molignon, for a field located in the vines in Vurpellière, in Molignon. He noted which grape varieties the planter must put in: Rèze, Arvine, the best red and Humagne. This is the first time Arvine is mentioned in a document!
Saint Théodule. Münster Chapel. Photo J.-M. Biner