The little village of Salgesch is drying everyone out once again!

The Grand Prix du Vin Suisse is the most important indicator for winemaking in Switzerland. No other competition competes with so many local companies; and compete for the prestigious “Wine of the Year” crown. For the 2022 edition, 2325 wines were presented. This is the lowest amount in years. Twenty percent less than 2021, but there are reasons.

In terms of volume, the 2021 crop was the worst in 50 years. Yield losses of up to 80 percent were experienced in some regions and some grape varieties due to frost, hail, rot and fungal diseases! Still: “Despite a tough year, we received a large number of applications,” says Jonas Ettlin, President of the Vinea association, which co-organized the competition with the specialist magazine “Vinum.”

So what kind of wine year was this 2021? It’s a philosophical question.

2021: good or bad or both?

Seemingly miserable, because in some places there was almost no wine? Or is it strong because what is bottled is mostly good quality and lively?

Is the bottle half full or empty? In any case, the equation that a good year because it’s warm is automatically the best crop should be thrown into the dustbin of history. Due to the unpredictable weather and global warming, putting a label on a vintage has become much more difficult. In the past, a unit was the measure of everything: Öchsle degrees, the must weight of grape must. Or to put it more succinctly: The sugar content of unfermented grape juice.

Today, even too many Oechsle classes are extremely inconvenient, as measured in the so-called centennial 2018. In Switzerland, too, the problem that wines quickly have an enormous alcohol content and turn into jam has long found its way. Even with Pinot noir in a cool climate zone like Zurich, as seen in a very well-known Zurich producer in 2018: sugar water with 16.5 percent alcohol. madness!

Supposedly smaller wines are often more exciting

The good thing about it: Any drinker who immediately puts a bottle in the corner can be accused of being philistine, as far as they know, because wine critics classify the crop as small. Because so-called smaller wines now often produce wines that are more boring, more precisely chipped, in short, more exciting. “From a taste perspective, it was very good in 2021,” says Thomas Vaterlaus, editor-in-chief of “Vinum”. Each bottle must be tasted before you can judge the vintage. Blanket judgments can be forgotten with a clear conscience! “The equation bad years equals bad wines hasn’t been true for a long time,” says Vaterlaus.

This is the most important determination regarding the 2021 harvest.

“Many consumers buy wine by medals”

Back to the competition. From this year’s gala at the Kurhaus Casino Bern, the two largest wine regions, Valais (832 wines presented) and Vaud (583), each won four categories. In total, wines from 18 cantons were presented. A total of 2325 bottles were tasted by 132 experts, who selected six finalists in each of the 13 categories. Among these 78 finalists, the winners were determined with a final tasting. Ettlin: “Competition is even more important because many consumers buy wine by medals.”

Salgesch won the title for the fourth time!

The winery of the year is the company that achieves the best ratio between presented wines, gold and silver medals, participation in the finals and podium place. It’s a complex issue that allows small companies to win, too.

Cave du Rhodan of the Mounir family from Salgesch won first place with five wines, two of which were awarded gold and two of which were silver, the very young Syrah 2021 was a finalist in the category of “red wines of one kind” – and won there. And the cellar became the second establishment to bring this title to the 1,500-strong village that holds the title of “Winehouse of the Year”. Diego Mathier is known to have won three times. Thus, the trophy goes to Salgesch/Salquenen for the fourth time.

Winery of the Year: Cave du Rhodan

The winners of Salgesch, the small language-border wine village in Valais, are innovative and trendy. Olivier and Sandra Mounir always have new ideas. For example, after the outbreak of the pandemic, they were among the fastest when it came to arranging a virtual tasting. 1000 customers who purchased 500 tasting boxes attended.

Or they have the newest vineyards planted with the fungus-resistant Divico grape variety – one of the rare, qualitatively truly promising Piwi varieties, by the way. The plants were raised high so that the Breton dwarf sheep with over 50 animals could graze there, enriching the bond on the initiative of his son Luc (22). In addition, the vineyard is equipped with a solar roof, which can also act as frost protection in spring, as it creates a greenhouse effect.

The vineyard provides a triple use: viticulture. grazing land and electricity generation. This has never happened in Switzerland!

The company’s own twelve hectares of land have already been converted to controlled organic cultivation. Thanks to the purchase of grapes, the annual production of Mounirs is between 150,000 and 200,000 bottles. The estate was founded in 1962 by Edith Mounir. Just ten years later, the first major blow came when Rhodan Pinot Noir won a wine competition in Budapest, where he won over 1,300 competitors. Such awards are now part of everyday business life. First of all, through the flagship Pinot Noir Diversitas Hommage, where the winery is represented in the prestigious Mémoire des Vins Suisses association. Exciting: Both Sandra and Olivier, who took over in 2007, changed careers and previously worked as business economists. Olivier is at an IT company. And what does the title holder say about his victory? Does he feel like a little king? In the video.