Grimentz, Mountain village in Val d'Anniviers, canton of Valais, Switzerland
Grimentz is a traditional mountain village in the Val d'Anniviers, in the Swiss canton of Valais. Its streets are narrow and uneven, lined with dark wooden houses that have stone roofs and attached barns, some built directly into the hillside.
Grimentz grew over many centuries as a mountain settlement for farmers and traders crossing the alpine passes. The oldest surviving building, the Burgher House, dates to the 16th century and still stands at the heart of the village.
In Grimentz, a white wine is aged in very old wooden barrels stored in the cellar of the Burgher House. Known as glacier wine, it can be tasted on certain occasions and represents one of the most personal local traditions a visitor can encounter here.
The village is best explored on foot, as the lanes are too narrow and uneven for vehicles. Parking outside the centre and walking in gives a better sense of how the place is laid out and makes it easier to move around freely.
Some of the glacier wine barrels in the Burgher House cellar are said to date back to 1886 and have never been topped up since. This makes the cellar one of the oldest continuously held wine collections in the Alps.
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