Matthias Orsett
Our first fateful encounter with Matthias Orsett was a last-minute attempt to squeeze in a Krone Vin micro-tasting during a packed Jura trip. Somewhere between two afterparties at the Nez dans le Vert salon — the latter of which Matthias was DJing — we found ourselves huddled in a pitch-black parking lot with a group of curious wine lovers and friends. Out the back of a car trunk, Matthias and his friend Noé from Domaine Christinat poured vivid, electric wines by flashlight, as the thump of basslines from the party spilled across the village. As it so often goes with wines not easily forgotten, our modest group of ten grew to thirty in minutes, attracting sommeliers and friends from both sides of the Swiss-French border — a spontaneous highlight of the trip.
Before his winemaking took root in the Alps, Matthias trained under Emmanuel Houillon and Pierre Overnoy in the Jura — legendary natural winemakers and keepers of the region’s uncompromising tradition. After that formative time, he settled in Vaud, where he initially worked parcels both there and across the cantonal border in Valais. But more recently, he’s taken the full leap — and is now 100% based in Valais, focusing entirely on his own vines in the steep hillsides around Fully, between 460 and 870 meters above sea level.
The vineyards are worked entirely by hand using organic methods. He harvests with friends into 20 kg crates, hand-destems with a traditional crible, and presses with an old vertical ratchet press. His reds are infused gently for purity and freshness, while his whites are raised on fine lees in old barrels. Some cuvées rest in the cellar for 2.5 years before release — a rare patience in a generation often pressured to bottle too early.
Labels are printed using cyanotype, made by photographer Angélique Stelhi — each vintage featuring a different plant foraged near the vines (2021 was yarrow, 2022 wild watercress). The bottles are closed with crown caps to preserve freshness and avoid cork taint — a nod to pragmatism over pretension.
With his first vintage in 2021, Matthias' wines are already drawing attention among the sharp-eyed few — and it likely won’t be long before his name and bottles find their way into cellars far beyond that carpark in Jura.
