Guy Berclaz

The Path

Since 1987, the founder’s role at Cave de la Crettaz has given Guy Berclaz a long line of control over the cellar’s identity. That kind of continuity matters in Valais, where vineyard decisions and cellar timing are part of the same job.

The Work Today

The current work at Cave de la Crettaz remains centered on winemaking, with Guy Berclaz still working from the framework he established in 1987. Respect for nature, careful vineyard work and integrated production sit inside a conventional production style; the method is less about gesture than about keeping the work consistent from parcel to parcel. Johannisberg is the clearest expression of that approach. It is handled as a sequence of separate decisions rather than as one uniform lot: harvest date, separate vinification, alcoholic fermentation, the second fermentation in the same tank and lees work all shape the wine before it is brought together. Old vines and low yields give the signature wine its place in the cellar’s identity. Guy Berclaz has described that as the cellar’s pride: "It's every year the pride of the cellar, because I have always had old vines with low yields."

Signature

Guy's signature wines include Johannisberg.

In Their Words “It's every year the pride of the cellar, because I have always had old vines with low yields.”

Acclaim

Johannisberg is the wine most closely tied to Guy Berclaz, and it is described as the coq de la cave. That status comes from the cellar’s own order of value: old vines, low yields and the work of parcel-by-parcel timing held at the center of the operation. There are no medals or credential titles attached to the record here. What does stand out is the continuity: since 1987, Cave de la Crettaz has been maintained through one founder’s management, with Johannisberg as the clearest measure of that sustained work.