Valais, Through a Turning Lens: Thomas Carl & Oscar Hauser
Above Sion, Thomas Carl and Oscar Hauser are bringing a terraced vineyard back to life — then letting each spontaneous fermentation, each vintage and each hand-painted bottle reveal a different pattern.
Cave Kaléidoscope began in 2024, when Thomas Carl and Oscar Hauser took over cellar premises and a hectare of nearby vines in Granois, a village high above the Rhône in Savièse. Their company, Carl Hauser Sàrl, is small by design: a steep vineyard, a working cellar and two friends learning exactly what each place and each vintage wants to become.
The vineyard gives them a broad Valais vocabulary. Chasselas, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Pinot Gris, Sylvaner, Diolinoir and Humagne grow in the parcels they describe on their Raisin profile. The first documented release was tighter: a Fendant, a Pinot Noir and a Merlot from the 2024 vintage, all AOC Valais, all spontaneously fermented and bottled without filtration.
The name is not a piece of abstract branding. Every bottle carries its own painted image — yellow birds crossing pink and blue fields, a beetle on a pastel ground, a red figure standing in yellow light. The back labels trade conventional tasting notes for small scenes and stories. Turn the bottle, and the wine changes its frame.
The Place — Granois & Savièse
Savièse faces the sun from the northern side of the Rhône valley above Sion. The vines climb steep terraces; the upper slopes defeat machines and demand hand work. Across the valley sit the mountains, below lies the Rhône corridor, and around the vines is a deliberately increasing tangle of plants.
A Cellar at 900 Metres
The domaine places its cellar in Granois at around 900 metres altitude, with the hectare of vines nearby. The first release is rooted in Savièse, but the altitude and village setting matter as much to the project’s identity as the AOC on the label.
Terraces, Not a Treadmill
The highest sections can only be worked by hand. Between the rows, cover growth is mown rather than turned into the soil. Old, gnarled trunks in the white parcels give the young domaine an agricultural memory far older than its 2024 start date.
The Flora Returns
Since taking over, the pair report no herbicide use. Hip-high grasses, sainfoin and cranesbill have returned, with lizards and praying mantises among the vines. Their label puts the intention succinctly: “Respect de l’écosystème des vignes.”
A Transition in the Open
Organic conversion is under way, but certification is not yet claimed. The longer-term plan is to plant resistant grape varieties and move further away from conventional treatments — a work in progress shaped by living soils and biodiversity.
Winemaking — Spontaneous, Unhurried, Case by Case
The cellar rules begin with subtraction. Fermentations run on indigenous yeasts, without starter cultures; there is no heating or cooling, no clarification and no filtration. Wines settle naturally before bottling. Whole bunches play a central role, but maceration is adjusted wine by wine rather than forced into a house formula.
The 2024 Fendant went in as whole bunches in their own juice. Pinot Noir and Merlot spent three weeks on skins, part whole bunch and part destemmed. Fibreglass handled the 2024 élevage; fibreglass, stainless steel and barrels entered the picture for 2025. Even the bottling stays manual, with a siphon filler and lever corker.
Sulphur is approached with the same transparency. The domaine reports 15–20 mg/l of SO₂ for 2024, added only at bottling, and states an ambition of zero for future wines. The debut Fendant was listed below 30 mg/l total sulphites and both reds below 25 mg/l — vintage-specific details, not a permanent technical promise.
The Wines — Three Turns of the Lens
The 2024 release established the cellar language in one Chasselas and two reds — all spontaneously fermented and unfiltered, with sulphur added only at bottling. Prices and production figures below are a vintage snapshot from the domaine’s retailer listings.
Fendant 2024
Chasselas under its Valais name — 11.1% volWhole bunches in their own juice, spontaneous fermentation, no oenological additives and no filtration. A light Fendant with more texture than the grape is usually asked to carry. Listed at CHF 19.50; just over 1,000 bottles.
Pinot Noir 2024
Savièse above Sion — 13% volThree weeks on skins, part whole bunch and part destemmed, then bottled unfiltered. Fruity, spicy and supple — a Pinot conceived for the full table rather than the silent tasting bench. Listed at CHF 23.00; around 500 bottles.
Merlot 2024
A small Valais bottling — 12.6% volThe same three-week, part-whole-bunch fermentation as the Pinot, with no filtration. Aromatic and spicy, round through the middle and gathered by a line of tannin at the finish. Listed at CHF 24.50; just 150 bottles.
The 2025 Turn
A wider range, still finding its complete formAn orange-fermented Fendant, a Viognier, an orange blend of Pinot Gris, Johannisberg and Viognier, and a Syrah. The regional listing also names Gamay, Dôle, Divico, rosé and white and red assemblages.
What Comes Next — A Young Cave, Still Turning
There is no long legacy to manufacture here. Cave Kaléidoscope’s significance lies in watching a domaine declare its direction at the beginning: bring back the life around established vines, make the farming more resilient, interfere less in the cellar and remain honest about the distance still to travel.
That makes the next few vintages unusually compelling. Resistant varieties are an ambition rather than a finished planting programme. Zero-added-sulphur wines are an intention rather than an accomplished house rule. New vessels, new cuvées and new label paintings are already expanding the pattern.
For drinkers, the pleasure is more immediate. These are small-release Valais wines with a sense of humour — bottles that can carry a beetle or a flock of yellow birds, send you towards raclette or a noisy dinner, and still speak clearly about altitude, native fermentation and the work of two pairs of hands.