riva : arpitan (old alpine dialect) - feminine noun:
riverside, shore, bank, edge, coast.
Edge of a lake, river.

The vineyard is composed of two parcels on the lieux-dit "Sur La Rivaz" and "Les Terreaux", on the western slopes of Villeneuve.

The main grape varieties cultivated are: Chasselas, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Malbec, Dornfelder, Gamaret, Garanoir, Merlot, Pinot Meunier.

Around 1ha of vines on a hillside, at an altitude of 550 meters, southwest exposure, facing Lake Leman and its unique natural island.

Haut-Lac

The Haut-Lac is the historical region where the vineyard is located, it takes its name from its geographical situation at the entrance of the Rhone into Lake Leman.

In Roman times, a small village existed around the present town of Villeneuve which was called "Pennelocus" (head of the lake).

At the time of the Counts of Savoy, the "Villeneuve de Chillon" , literally "The New Town of Chillon" , was built to accommodate the growing population of the Castle of Chillon and to establish a toll house, thanks to its strategic position at the estuary of the Rhône.

The island of Peilz, which magnifies the landscape of the region, is the only natural island in Lake Leman where an old tree still stands, whose plantation and history are still mysterious.

In the past, the hillsides of the region were submerged by the immense Rhône glacier, which can reach more than 1000 meters in height, extending from Valais to Lyon, to the foothills of the Jura.

The plot is located under the Rochers de Naye, a famous mountain in the Vaudois pre-Alps, composed mainly of limestone rocks, culminating at an altitude of 2042 meters.

A little further, going up the Tinière stream, is the Col de Chaude which has the particularity of marking the watershed line between the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Rhône Alpin

Soils

The soils are mainly composed of Rhone moraines from this last ice age, with a clay-limestone part in the depth which makes it typical of Chablais Vaudois.

The region and more particularly the basements of Villeneuve, have since time immemorial provided many building materials often derived from types of limestone, for building stones and as limestone.

The quarries of Mont d'Arvel, known since Roman times, were once used to extract a famous cut stone of the crystalline limestone type called "marble" after polishing.

Viticulture

All the vines are grown without synthetic product.

The only treatments carried out are sulfur and copper sprays to prevent and protect the vines from possible fungal diseases.

No chemical weed killer is used.

The grass is maintained as much as possible in order to promote biodiversity, maintain living soils and the development of mycorrhizae.

All the work in the vineyard is done by hand.

The harvest is done in small boxes .

Wine-making

The grapes are then crushed, destemmed and pressed after a maceration of more or less length depending on the type of wine desired.

No chemical yeast is used to start the fermentations, they are all done naturally with indigenous yeasts.

No fining, no high filtration.

No additives or sulfites are added at any time during the winemaking or bottling process.

These are natural, pure, terroir wines, made with only grapes.

Cultivated, vinified and bottled in Villeneuve.

The wines are classified as VDP, Vin de Pays Suisse, for reasons of legislative freedom.

Natural Wines

Nothing added, nothing removed. Just Grapes.

Pur Jus - Pour Ju

Vin Vivant - Artisanat - Vin Nature - 00 - Terroir - Pureté

long story short...

" Formerly sommelier, I took over this parcel of vines of about 1ha, out of passion for natural wine, alpine vineyards, and the view was really beautiful to work with . haha...
So I made my first vintage from pruning to winemaking in 2022, while managing the cellar of a hotel in Lausanne for most of the year.
Thanks to my training and experience in sommellerie, I knew the main aspects of viticulture and winemaking, but it was in 2020 that I started working in the vineyard when my friend, Jordi Renard, had the brilliant idea of buying a parcel on the slopes of Chamoson, in the Valais, after a bright idea following many tasting sessions and visits to wineries (not to mention that memorable weekend at La Dive before the global breakdown following the pandemic that was coming).
I still remember in spring 2020, replanting young Pinot Noir plants, topless (bad idea) on the hillside, in direct sunlight, in his new plot with literally: a shovel and a rake...

Benjamin Dupas