[7] The earliest traces of human activity in Cully comes from the Neolithic, when Lake Geneva was near the modern port of Moratel.

During the Roman Empire, the route from Lausanne to Great Saint Bernard ran through the area.

After the collapse of the Ancien régime, the village belonged from 1798 to 1803 during the Helvetic Republic to the Canton of Léman.

A project to merge the independent municipalities Cully, Epesses, Riex, Grandvaux, and Villette (Lavaux) failed in a vote on 27 February 2005 due to the resistance of the population of Grandvaux but was finally complete on 1 July 2011.

The name Epesses comes from the Latin word spissa (meaning dense, thick) probably in reference to the spruce.

It was not until 1824, when the community was split from Villette, that Epesses attained the status of an independent political municipality.

The entire villages of Grandvaux, Riex and Aran are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.