Epesses is a former municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the district of Lavaux-Oron on Lake Geneva. It is noted for its wine production.
The municipalities of Cully, Epesses, Grandvaux, Riex and Villette (Lavaux) merged on 1 July 2011 into the new municipality of Bourg-en-Lavaux.
History
Traces of a Roman road and coins finds indicate an early settlement in the municipality. Epesses is first mentioned in 1453 as Espesses.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 3.8% is used for growing crops and 23.9% is pastures, while 35.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.
The area is small and covers a section of the Lavaux at the northeastern shore of Lake Geneva for . The municipal land extends northward from the shore of Geneva up the steep slope and down to the wooded heights to the east of Mont de Gourze. The slope is drained by the Enfer River into Lake Geneva. The highest point, Bois de Romont is above sea level.
Epesses consists of the village, the two hamlets Crêt-Dessus ( above sea level) and Crêt-Lingerie ( above sea level), located respectively on the Enfer, and a few detached farms. Epesses borders the municipalities of Cully, Riex, Forel and Puidoux.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per bend Argent and Gules, overall three Pine-trees Vert.
Demographics
Epesses has a population () of 332. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 3.1%. It has changed at a rate of -5.9% due to migration and at a rate of 9% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks French (273 or 88.6%), with German being second most common (10 or 3.2%) and Portuguese being third (10 or 3.2%). There are 5 people who speak Italian.
, there were 137 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 137 married individuals, 18 widows or widowers and 16 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.53 which is fewer people per room than the cantonal average of 0.61 per room. About 39.2% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 131 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household.
there were 164 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 36. There were 12 single room apartments and 58 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 125 apartments (76.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 28 apartments (17.1%) were seasonally occupied and 11 apartments (6.7%) were empty.
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Economy
Most of the houses in the village center are occupied by tenants who cultivate the 52 hectares of vineyards in this municipality. The cultivation of grapes and wine production now forms the main livelihood. It produces dry white wines, mainly from the Chasselas grape variety, but also reds (Pinot Noir, Syrah, etc.) and specialties. Notable vineyards exist at "Calamine" which is south of the village center by Lake Geneva and "Le Dézaley" in the east, already partly located in the communities of Puidoux and Rivaz.
, Epesses had an unemployment rate of 2.4%. , there were 84 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 20 businesses involved in this sector. 24 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 4 businesses in this sector. 64 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 8 businesses in this sector.
, there were 42 workers who commuted into the municipality and 94 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 11.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 50% used a private car.
Transport
Although the municipality is located outside of the more urban areas of the district, it still has well-developed transport links with a link road from Cully to Chexbres. The nearest motorway junction is the A9 road which was opened in 1974 to connect Lausanne with Sion and crosses Chexbres, about 3 km from Epesses.
On 2 April 1861, a railway station was established on the Lausanne-Villeneuve. There is also a daily bus service which serves the route from Cully to Chexbres.
Sights
thumb|A densely packed wine grower village close to the village of Epesses
Epesses contains part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces.
The entire village of Epesses is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Epesses villages has some densely packed wine growers houses, mostly dating from the 17th to 19th century, offering a picturesque townscape. The Saint-Jacques Church in Epesses is dated from the 14th to the 16th century and has been restored several times since then. The Bovard century, dated to the 15th century is a listed building.
Twin town
Epesses is twinned with the town of Berthoud, Switzerland.
Religion
From the , 71 or 23.1% were Roman Catholic, while 163 or 52.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 9 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.92% of the population), and there was 1 individual who belongs to another Christian church. There was 1 person who was Buddhist and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 44 (or about 14.29% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 18 individuals (or about 5.84% of the population) did not answer the question. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 665 children of which 232 children (34.9%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 21 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 18 students in those schools.
, there were 20 students in Epesses who came from another municipality, while 48 residents attended schools outside the municipality.