Austrian cellar named ““Gran Maestro du Pinot Noir”

Two Valais wines win Grand Or top awards

SIERRE, SWITZERLAND – Austrian winery Weingut Schlosshalbturn from Halbturn was named the winner of the prestigious “Gran Maestro du Pinot Noir” at the Mondial des Pinots wine competition in Sierre Friday 2 September. Two wineries from canton Valais in Switzerland were awarded Grand Or medals, the top honour.

The Gran Maestro goes to the winery that has three best consecutive Pinot Noirs.

The competition was held in August in Sierre, with 1,350 wines entered from around the world. Home country wines dominated the winners, with Switzerland sweeping two-thirds of the medals. To some extent this reflects the problem of a strong franc, a discouraging factor for wineries from abroad, but Switzerland is also one of the world centres of Pinot Noir wines – and 175 more wines were entered in 2016 than in 2015.

The competition is open to all Pinot family wines – Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, as still and sparkling wines, including rosés.

The highest honour, the Grand Or medal, was awarded to two wines from canton Valais, a Pinot Noir from Varone and a Pinot Gris from Salgesch/Salquenen. More than two-thirds of the medals (84) went to Pinot wines from Switzerland: 28 from Valais, 20 from Graubünden, 8 from Vaud, 6 from Neuchatel. The last of these regions had an excellent result in relation to the number of wines presented. The same was true for Graubünden and the rest of German-speaking Switzerland, with a total of 41 medals. At the international level, German Pinot wines won 15 medals, while France was awarded 7.

The awards were handed out Friday at the start of the Vinea Wine Fair in Sierre; the competition is organized by the Vinea Association.

Complete list of awards

SPECIAL PRIZES

Best wine of the competition

Offered by Felco Suisse

Pinot Noir Pfyfoltru 2015, AOC Valais, Soleil de Varone, Varen, Valais, Switzerland

Syngenta Gran Maestro du Pinot Noir prize

Offered by Syngenta Agro AG

Schlosshalbturn 2007, 2008, 2009, Neusiedler See,

Weingut Schlosshalbturn GMBH, Halbturn, Austria

Best Swiss Pinot Noir

Offered by Normpack Suisse

Pinot Noir Pfyfoltru 2015, AOC Valais, Soleil de Varone, Varen, Valais, Switzerland

Sparkling wine prize

Offered by the Union Suisse des Œnologues

Rosé Brut Italy non-vintage, Carpené Malvolti Spa Conegliano Veneto, Italy

Rosé wine prize

Offered by Eticolle Sierre

Trockenbeerenauslese 19.01 2015, AOC St-Gallen, Weinkellerei Haubensak, Altstätten, Saint Gallen, Switzerland

Pinot Gris prize

Offered by Serex Plastics Puidoux

Malvoisie flétrie Barrique 2014, AOC Valais, Gregor Kuonen, Salgesch/Salquenen, Valais, Switzerland

Pinot Blanc prize

Offered by Model Emballages

Stadt Schaffhausen Heerenberg 2015, AOC Schaffhausen, Weinkeller sh, Schaffhausen, Switzerland

BIO prize (organic wines)

Offered by the Fédération Suisse des Vignerons

Blauburgunder Spätlese 2014, AOC Aargau, Ck-Weine, Schinznach-Dorf, Aargau, Switzerland

VINOFED prize

Offered by VINEA Sierre

Pur Sang 2012, Neuchâtel AOC, Caves de Chambleau, Colombier, Neuchatel, Switzerland