For weinfanatic: Mladen Tomic
Valais – a galaxy of its own
The Valais. Infinite expanses. Mountain flanks. Wild side valleys. Winding roads. Monsieur Constantin. “Sion 2002”, 2006, 2026 and then probably 20XX. A green, fertile strip on the valley floor and therefore intact conditions for viticulture. One could generally assume. The fact is that, at least in the middle and upper reaches of the Rhône, winegrowers have to wrest every patch of land from nature and, in some cases, rugged rock. In many cases, this has resulted in a landscape that is in no way inferior to other world-famous river wine-growing regions such as the Douro or the Moselle valley in terms of beauty.
Nestled in this landscape is the winegrowing village of Salgesch with its dozens of small and micro vineyards. “A few hectares here, another hectare there” are cultivated by the farmers and often vinified themselves. In family businesses that are decades or even centuries old.
Diego – God’s wine hand
One of the best-known and largest wineries is Diego Mathier’s estate [85 hectares of his own vines]. In the last ten years or so, the mountain winegrower has managed to outshine many of his colleagues in the northern regions of Switzerland time and time again.
As is often the case in Valais, his hobbyhorse is the Pinot Noir grape variety. With his réserve, single-vineyard and grand cru versions of the grape, he has found access to wine tasters and thus also to consumers [perhaps the other way round!] His Pinot Noir “Ambassadeur” achieves fabulous ratings year after year. Since winning the “Mondial des Pinots” several times with it, Diego Mathier’s flagship has been competing with the best Pinot gems in the world.
Ambassadeur – Paradewein
At this vertical tasting, almost a dozen wine lovers devoted themselves to precisely this wine, which can and sometimes does cause a sensation beyond Salgesch, the cantonal borders and even beyond Switzerland. The 1995 to 2016 vintages [almost all of them!] were available for tasting, well chilled in the scorching hot “Stube”.
My personal impression of the “Ambassadeur” so far is that of a true Swiss parade wine. A wine with finesse, elegance and depth. As Diego Mathier knows how to get the maximum out of each vintage and is able to give each Ambassadeur its own Pinot typicity, I have refrained from listing the fruits, vegetables, spices and other aromas that are normally characteristic of Pinot in the “tasting notes”. For the different vintages, I concentrated on special properties, characteristics or aroma nuances that were worth mentioning. In one sentence. This results in a kind of “elevator pitch” for each vintage.
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