La Maison Massy

Among the short-listed grape varieties praised for being neutral mediums for transmitting an indelible taste of place, Chasselas is frequently overlooked. Planted in small quantities outside of Switzerland, this variety doesn’t have the name recognition of Chardonnay or a famous associated wine style, such as Sherry’s Palomino Fino. Being the most widely cultivated grape variety in Switzerland, Chasselas is the country’s vinous calling card. Unfortunately, the Swiss consume almost all the wine they produce and a significant amount of wine from other countries, making this emblematic variety somewhat scarce outside of Switzerland. When planted in an unsuitable place, Chasselas, like Palomino Fino or Chardonnay, is almost always guaranteed to produce uninteresting wines, but when grown in the right place, the wines are beguilingly unique.

The true heartland of Chasselas clings to the steep hillsides that span Lac Léman’s northern shore entirely within the Canton of Vaud. Carved by the advance of ice age glaciers and sculpted by the floods of their retreat, this greatest of Alpine lakes fosters the ideal microclimate for Chasselas. The reflected light off the lake during the day bathes the vines in solar radiation, but once the sun sets, the temperatures drop when cool air moves in from the surrounding mountains. The warming effect of the daytime sun and the gravelly nature of the soils closest to the shore of Lac Léman ensure that the vines grow at the edge of stress, resulting in concentrated fruit and moderate yields. At center stage of Vaud is Lavaux, a stretch of vineyards with south-southwestern exposure carved into steep slopes facing the lake. Terraced and planted by the Cistercian monks in the 12th century, the vineyards of Lavaux are so historic, picturesque, dramatic, and singular that the entire region has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Small changes in the terroir from village to village result in varied expressions of the variety that, in many cases, Chasselas doesn’t appear on the label. Instead, you’re treated to a geological and geographic deep dive: Lutry, Villette, Epesses, Calamin, Dézaley, St-Saphorin, Chardonne, Vevey.

If you’ve made it this far, you might have gleaned that we are fascinated by Chasselas and captivated by its dizzying depths in Lavaux and its heights across the rest of Vaud and into neighboring Valais. Having parted ways with a famous estate in the heart of Lavaux, we waited patiently for an opportunity to find another. So, when Eric & Daphne visited Luc Massy and his two sons, Benjamin & Gregory, they found not only a replacement, but a family with as much love and appreciation for Chasselas as we have at European Cellars.

La Maison Massy is located in the village of Epesses, dramatically perched midslope between the A9 and the shores of Lac Léman. The family home, a former aristocratic retreat, dates to 1630 and is surrounded by the only walled Grand Cru Clos in the village – Le Clos du Boux. Luc Massy’s father and grandfather acquired this estate in the early 20th century, following decades of cultivating Chasselas in the neighboring Grand Cru of Dézaley. Having already established the Massy name with their monopole Chemin de Fer in Dézaley, the purchase of Clos du Boux made their name a watchword for some of the most complex and age-worthy Chasselas in Switzerland. Successive generations have expanded their holdings in Dézaley and Epesses, and added vines in Saint-Saphorin, so that the estate now farms nearly 10 hectares of vines. While Chasselas remains their specialty, they also grow small quantities of Gamay, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Vineyard work is, by necessity, manual, and all treatments are avoided unless absolutely necessary and with the least systemic impact on the surrounding environment. Since Lavaux is blessed by warm and dry weather, they are uncertified organic. The harvest is conducted by hand, according to the ripeness of each parcel, and fermentations are either spontaneous or initiated with a pied de cuve. The tidy cellar employs barriques for aging their red wines, stainless steel tanks and concrete tanks for their white wines, and a large, well-seasoned oak foudre for their iconic Chemin de Fer. From the mineral depths of Clos du Boux through the interplay of ethereal and liveliness of Chemin de Fer alongside each other unique expression of Chasselas, the work of the Massy family is no better testament to greatness, versatility, and complexity that this iconic Swiss variety can offer.