Robert Gilliard Dole des Monts 2000

Edmond Gilliard, originally from the Vaud region, founded the Valais branch of the dynasty. To his talents as a grower he soon added those of remarkable wine-maker, gifts that helped him establish the reputation of the appellations Dôle des Monts and Johannisberg Brûle-Fer. From their inception in 1886, they were to bring him countless national and international honors.

He was succeeded in 1918 by his son, Robert Gilliard, who enlarged the Estates, adding numerous properties situated at the heart of the vine-growing area on the slopes above Sion. He enlarged as well the cellars he had inherited and soon distinguished himself through his style of vinification "à la vaudoise". He built a great reputation for the "Fendant les Murettes", still unanimously appreciated by connoisseurs to this day.

Under the direction of François Gilliard, who took over in 1953, the firm expanded further acquiring vines at la Cotzette and building new cellars at Platta. Specialities of Valais (Petite Arvine, Amigne, Muscat, Ermitage, Malvoisie) contributed to the national and international renown of Gilliard's range.

In the firm's centenary year of 1985 with no heir apparent to continue the line, the Gilliard family appointed Willy Becker, related by marriage to the founding family, to continue the work undertaken by the three generations of the family. He his now assisted by his son, Claude, who represents the fifth generation.