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Arbaz, Valais

Mythopia

Romaine & Hans-Peter

"Heroic Alpine Viticulture" can be read on the labels of Mythopia, the tone is set! It is indeed in conditions close to heroism that Romaine and Hans-Peter Schmidt cultivate their vines, on the steep slopes of Arbaz. The vines they have thought of as a real garden in balance with nature, full of plants, flowers, trees...

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Mythopia at a glance

CountrySwitzerland
RegionValais
VillageArbaz
Cultivated grapesChasselas, Pinot Noir, Rèze...
First harvest2004
Our favoritesDisobedience, Pi-No

A kingdom of biodiversity

You have probably already heard of Mythopia... perched on the heights of Sion, in the village of Arbaz, Romaine and Hans-Peter Schmidt have taken up residence in order to put into practice their vision of biodiversity and of a rich and balanced ecosystem.

At an altitude of more than 800m, on chalky soil, they have gradually transformed the barren vineyard into a real wine garden. From the very first day they gave up synthetic products and started to plant trees, shrubs, flowers, hedges and plants, to install beehives, to place piles of stones for the lizards, to grow fruits and vegetables between the rows of vines. To increase biodiversity, to reactivate the soil, to give back this complex balance to the terroir, in order to gain in grape quality and aromas.

Nature seemed to have only waited for their initial impulse to be able to regain, by itself, its living complexity. No work on the land, very little intervention, let the vine and nature live. In the cellar, long maturation, without unnecessary interventions.

The Chasselas, Pinot Noir, Sylvaner and Rèze wines are of a rare purity, of a rare expressiveness. Wines of meditation, to be tasted with as much respect as Romaine and Hans-Peter devote to shaping them.

The art of disobeying

Hans-Peter's quest to make a white wine that can be kept for a long time without the use of sulphites has been the driving force behind his work over the past few years. He set about the task with the grapes growing in his vineyards, the Chasselas, or Fendant as it is called by the locals, but he soon came up against the injunctions of the same locals, who were doubtful about his experiments.

To macerate the grapes in whole bunches for several weeks? We don't dare to imagine it. To age the same wine in barrels for many years? Never seen that before! And yet... it is precisely the fact of disobeying the established rules that will allow Hans-Peter to realize his dream. The name of the wine was found. Disobedience, a great white wine for aging, without sulfites. The result is a real taste experience for those who have the chance to ever try it.

The village of Arbaz, Switzerland

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