Gantenbein
With the arrival of autumn, the grapes for the 2022 Swiss wine vintage have been harvested almost everywhere. In the big Blick survey, top winemakers in all Swiss wine regions are enthusiastic about the potential of 2022.
The past wine year 2021 was a major challenge for Swiss winegrowers: despite surprisingly high quality, heavy rain, hail damage and downy mildew led to some dramatic harvest losses. As a result, many wished for a somewhat less challenging year in 2022. This wish came true, as Blick’s major survey on the new vintage with leading winegrowers from all wine regions shows.
Diego Mathier (52), Adrian & Diego Mathier Nouveau Salquenen AG, Salgesch VS
“2022 will be a sensational, brilliant vintage. This is also evident in the wines that have finished fermentation. Their first impression is great: great tannin structure, fully ripe, but not overripe despite the heat, and crisp. We are always on the lookout for the perfect wine. With this unique material from the vineyards, you have the basis for making wines that come close to perfection. And the vines were still full of juice after the harvest. In such a warm year, it is important not to reduce the yield too much. It is better to leave one kilo on the vine instead of the usual 500 to 600 grams per square meter. This way, the vegetation period is also longer and you harvest later. If you don’t do this and reduce as usual, you make jam.”
Martha (63) and Daniel Gantenbein (62), Fläsch GR
“We harvested the last grapes on the sixth of October. The dry summer caused us some concern, but it still rained at the right time. So we can look back on a great year. As every year, the pre-selection in the vineyard for quality assurance before the grape harvest was a challenge. The result looks very good, both in terms of quantity and quality. We were able to harvest the grapes when they were ripe, but the Oechsle levels were not too high. With Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, we want strength, concentration and elegance. If the alcohol content is too high, some of the elegance is lost, but the grapes still have to be ripe. It’s always a balancing act, but we are very satisfied.”
Luigi Zanini (50), Castello Luigi, Besazio TI
“2022 is the vintage of the century! Obviously a lot of patience was needed to wait for full polyphenolic and aromatic ripeness, although the sugar concentration was already high at the beginning of September. The color, structure and tannins are great. On the seventh of October, we completed the harvest with the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Long live the 2022 vintage!”
Jean-Pierre Pellegrin (61), Domaine Grand’Cour, Satigny GE
“2022 will be a very good vintage! The young vines had to suffer because their roots couldn’t develop perfectly. But with the older ones, from around five years old, everything was wonderful. With certain grape varieties, we waited until the short period of rainfall was over before picking, which totally paid off. The vintage was probably warm, but never as hot as 2013 or 2018. A vine just loves the sun, it will stay that way forever – just like humans. The bottom line: in 2022, we Geneva winegrowers can call ourselves spoiled winegrowers.”
Catherine Cruchon (35), Domaine Henri Cruchon, Echichens VD
“It’s still too early to make a definitive forecast, but everything points to a very nice, balanced vintage that was probably warm, but never as hot as the many heat years before. In the Chasselas, for example, the sugar has reached a ceiling, unlike in 2018/19. The pH values are very low at 3.2 to 3.4, which is extremely interesting for a rather warm vintage. The nitrogen content was low, which is why fermentation struggled to get going. But then it worked. The sanitary condition of the grapes was wonderful, the juices very dense. We are extremely positive about the 2022 vintage.”
Markus Ruch (45), Neunkirch SH
“We started the harvest with the white grapes in the last week of August, earlier than ever before, and finished the harvest on the twentieth of September with the Pinot Noir. The grapes were very healthy, but a little heterogeneous with a good sugar content and a little too little acidity. But we are looking forward to this conciliatory vintage after 2021.”
Urs Zweifel (53), City Vintner of Zurich, Zweifel 1898, Höngg ZH
“We had a very hot and dry summer. We were already worried that it would result in overcooked berries, lots of alcohol and no elegance. That wasn’t the case at all, because we received a bit of rain towards the end of the summer. This allowed the grapes to ripen and become fruity. As a result, the sugar content was not as high as we had feared. The wines will be fruity and elegant. Even the Pinot Noir, because it has not become over-alcoholic. The quantity is also good, which of course makes us happy. 2022 is a top vintage, similar to 2011 or 2015.”
