• Ancient Perloz wine press

    Architecture

Ancient Perloz wine press

Resorts: Perloz

The Perloz wine press is an interesting witness to the history of viticulture and rural traditions of the area.
The pressing allowed for the extraction, by pressing, of the liquid part from the marc, what remained at the end of the alcoholic fermentation after the wine had been tapped from the tuns.
The shaft is made up of a huge chestnut beam of 7.3 meters in length which moved thanks to the screw placed at the end of the longer arm.
The ancient press, now restored, is located in a long and narrow room, with free access.

THE HISTORY OF THE PRESS
The oldest part of the building can be traced back to the 16th century.
In the 17th century the land on which the press was built belonged to the Vallaise estate. Archive research attests the ownership to the Gavy family who, having contracted various debts, had to sell all of their assets to creditors by order of the judge in 1781.
Thus, the building passed to the Glésaz brothers, a family that would retain the ownership of the press until the 19th century.
Between 1790 and 1812 the building underwent a global reconstruction, clearly recognizable on the east wall.
The press worked regularly until the 1920s, ending its activity for the drastic reduction of viticulture.
Although inactive, the press remained in good condition until the end of the Second World War when a devastating fire started by the Nazi-fascists on 30 June 1944, during a retaliation against the partisans, definitively compromised its structure.