Les Celliers de Sion is cumulation of two of the most respected and historic wine producing family's of Switzerland's most prominate wine producing region. 

When the wine growing family of the Varone house joined forces with Bonvin to create “Les Celliers de Champsec” in 1992, the two houses sealed their destiny. From a purely economic partnership, they are gradually evolving towards a common goal and more complementarity: once competitors, their ranges now aim to represent all the diversity and wine-growing potential of Valais.

Because of its history and its heritage, the Bonvin house highlights its estates and its terroirs while the Varone house has opted for a more sensory discovery of wine. Two complementary approaches that give everyone the opportunity to find what they are looking for in order to discover wine differently.

This merger has generated new synergies for the two winemakers and offers a magnificent setting for their vintages, perfectly illustrating the diversity of Valais wines. The ambition of the Oenoparc des Celliers de Sion is to develop wine tourism skills and to create the ideal conditions for the encounter between curious and demanding consumers and wines of character produced in an exceptional and unique landscape.

After the association of the two houses in 1992, Pascal Varone, architect Epfl and cousin of the Varones, was commissioned to build the Celliers de Champsec, a wine cellar of more than 1000 square meters.
A building "from the vine to the bottle" was built and imposed itself for many years.

In 2010, the two houses changed their name to “Les Celliers de Sion” and together imagined the Oenoparc.

The History of the Houses.

The Bonvin House

Bonvin 1858 is the oldest wine house in Valais. It has greatly contributed to the notoriety of Swiss wines and more particularly to the Valais controlled designation of origin.

Charles Bonvin cultivates 23.5 hectares of vines on the best slopes of central Valais: vines in terraces, facing south, arid soils of limestone shale, expressing themselves in the remarkable minerality of their wines.

The exceptional location of the Bonvin estates cultivated with integrated production techniques as well as the cellar equipped with modern technical installations, explain the success of these wines with their predestined name.

The distinctions obtained in the competitions as well as the title of Swiss Cellar of the Year, obtained in 2014, testify to an artisanal know-how refined over more than 150 vintages.

In 1992, Bonvin, in association with Philippe Varone Vins, founded Les Celliers de Champsec to develop synergies. Since 2017, these two partners have intensified their collaboration by creating a joint sales force: the first Oenoparc in Switzerland at the foot of the spectacular terraced vineyard. Les Celliers de Sion, directed by David Héritier, stands out as a privileged meeting place between consumers and vine and wine artisans.

The Varone House

Since its foundation in 1900, the Varone family business has followed the major developments in Swiss and Valais viti-viniculture.

At that time, it was the first to decline its wines in small containers and to distinguish bottled qualities from open wines, which are more common. This made it possible to ensure the commercial development of Varone wines in the gastronomy and with private customers in Switzerland and abroad.

From the 1920s, Frédéric Varone, the founder, anticipated market trends by creating strong brands such as Fendant Soleil du Valais and Dôle Valéria.

Since its foundation, the Varone house has worked on these values. In the 2000s, it adopted a consumer proximity strategy that put forward an original approach: polysensory tasting. The result is extremely precise, uncompromising wines, which are offered during tastings where all the senses are awakened. Another way of seeing, smelling, touching, tasting wine…
Tasting a wine appeals to all the senses and appeals to our memory. She invites us to search for smells, tastes, or even sensations in our most distant memories to put words on our perceptions.

In 1992, the Varone house joined forces with Bonvin 1858 Les Domaines to create Les Celliers de Champsec with the aim of developing synergies and streamlining certain activities.

Today, Philippe Varone, President of the City of Sion, has decided to delegate the management of his business to the Celliers de Sion headed by David Héritier. In this context, the two partners are intensifying their collaboration by initiating a joint sales force and creating the first Oenoparc in Switzerland at the foot of the spectacular terraced vineyard. The Celliers de Sion are emerging as a privileged meeting place between consumers and artisans of the vine and wine.