The Soil
Soil formation in the Lavaux region dates back some 25 million years.
The geologic fault that became Lake Geneva and the Rhone valley was created by the folding of the earth's crust during the uprising of the Alps. Then the cycle of successive glaciations cut into this region's slopes, changing the appearance of the landscape and depositing a moraine of soil materials brought from the Alps. The soil of our vineyards has thus been in place since the last glacier retreated more than 15,000 years ago.
Starting from the 10th century AD, monks cleared the slopes and started to cultivate vines. The rocks deposited by the glaciers were then used to build the stone walls supporting our terraces.
The geologic fault that became Lake Geneva and the Rhone valley was created by the folding of the earth's crust during the uprising of the Alps. Then the cycle of successive glaciations cut into this region's slopes, changing the appearance of the landscape and depositing a moraine of soil materials brought from the Alps. The soil of our vineyards has thus been in place since the last glacier retreated more than 15,000 years ago.
Starting from the 10th century AD, monks cleared the slopes and started to cultivate vines. The rocks deposited by the glaciers were then used to build the stone walls supporting our terraces.
