Unique Wineries
In the current issue of Vinum, the Unique Wineries of the World section reports on the Swiss winemaker of the years 2018-2011-2007, his top wines and the latest innovations from Mathier: the full-fruity fun wines Gigolo red and Gigolo white, which are bottled in trendy bulbous bottles.
No other Swiss winery has such a track record.
Nadia and Diego Mathier, accompanied by their oenologist Cédric Leyat, were awarded the coveted trophy for Winery of the Year three times, in 2007, 2011 and 2018, at the most prestigious competition for Swiss wines, the Grand Prix du Vin Suisse and Winemaker of the Decade.
Behind this success is a real triumvirate.
There is Nadia Mathier, the heart of the business, who makes sure that everything runs smoothly. The bundle of energy Diego Mathier is the spiritus rector and the tireless creator and driving force. And oenologist Cédric Leyat, who is now 55 years old, inherited Diego Mathier from his father, so to speak, when he and his wife took over responsibility for the winery in 2001. They have now been working together very successfully for 18 years. And they are never tempted to rest on their laurels.
During the harvest, it is still Diego Mathier who personally stands at the grape reception.
“It is an important sign to our contract growers when the patron himself receives the grapes. Because everyone knows that I am strict. And I have to be strict, because my customers are too,” he says.
“Of course I know that it’s a privilege to be able to make wine here in Valais in this day and age,” says Diego Mathier. His father often only picked the Pinot just before Christmas: “He still had to fight to get it ripe. Today, thanks to global warming, I sometimes feel like a top athlete who knows he’s won 300 meters before the finish line.”
Mathier is a Pinot freak and, with every vintage, aims to prove those critics wrong who believe that it is actually too hot for this fragile variety in Valais today.
And he usually succeeds, especially with his top Pinot, the L’Ambassadeur de Domain Diego Mathier. He goes to great lengths to achieve this. During the harvest, for example, the Pinot grapes are divided into no fewer than six quality levels.
In general, the estate produces an impressive number of top wines today.
The spectrum ranges from Ambassadeur Fumé, a Sylvaner of rare freshness and complexity, to the Merlot Nadia Mathier, which was able to stand up excellently to top wines from Bordeaux or California in a VINUM Unique Wineries comparison tasting.
But Diego Mathier also knows that today you have to be innovative at all quality levels.
Our top wines are the “freestyle”, but you must never neglect the “duty”. This includes, for example, the line with the tongue-in-cheek name Gigolo, with fruity, fun wines for a young audience, which are now bottled in trendy, bulbous bottles with eye-catching artist labels.
The Mathiers produce 55 different wines today, and there are likely to be more to come.
He has already made his commitment to Chasselas with crus such as Molignon, which matures on slate soils above Sion. Now he is turning his attention to the granite soils of Fully. You can look forward to it!
…
