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.
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
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