«Decanter»-Interview mit Diego Mathier

Decanter: What are you trying to express with the winning wine? Is there an interesting story behind this wine?
Diego Mathier: Six years ago I had the idea of a white Ambassadeur des Domaines Diego Mathier. 2013 was the ideal vintage with which to begin, setting February 2015 as the first date of sale. 2014 is now the second vintage.
As with the first, the wine combines Alpine freshness with a great deal of elegance, nobility, complexity and finish. In this wine we wish to combine the diverse advantages of winegrowing in Valais. This wine has a lot of storage potential.
The wine attains its maturity and intensity in the course of 16 months storage in new French oak barrels, each having a capacity of 228 litres. In 1985, its counterpart, the red Ambassadeur des Diego Domaines Mathier was the first Swiss wine to be vinified in such casks.

Tell us something about your personal history, wine-related certainly, but especially if your career hasn’t always been in wine (for the winemaker/owners).
Being of the fourth generation in our family business, wine and wine-making were always a central topic at the family table.
However after finishing my studies at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) I strayed into banking for two years before my father called me back into the family business. I had planned to work for the bank in New York.
I gained a foothold by taking over the management of two traditional wine-handling businesses in Switzerland. During this time I had broad opportunities to increase my knowledge and to taste my way through many fascinating wine narratives.
In 2000 I took over the family vineyards in Salgesch (Salquenen). Since the world of wine tends to become more and more feminine, to have my wife and five daughters at my side is a very great joy.
For 25 years Cedric Leyat has been the chief oenologist in the firm. He is jointly instrumental in achieving an ideal correspondence between the vintage and the essential personal note of the wine. A long experience in maturing the wine in oak barrels is now bringing forth its most noble fruits.
Our common objective is always to secure the very best from the terroir.

Can you tell us about the history of your winery, and especially its history under your ownership – investment, expansion etc.
Adrian & Diego Mathier Nouveau Salquenen AG has been firmly in the hands of the Mathier family for four generations. Great-grandfather Ferdinand laid the corner-stone of today's wine business. In their turn grandfather Oscar and father Adrian each took over the business and since the year 2000 I have directed the family firm, together with my wife Nadia,.
The cellar has been brought up to date and we have adapted the vineyards to conform with the new climatic conditions. Additional top locations have been purchased and thus Adrian & Diego Mathier Nouveau Salquenen AG has always grown and has never stagnated.

What is the philosophy of your winery? What are you aiming to achieve with your wines?
True to our philosophy of life "Emotion, tradition and innovation - since generations" our family name stands for green production of quality wines.
We express our gratitude for the unique conditions to be found in the Rhone valley and we give nature all due respect.
Our aim is to offer our clients the most pleasurable moments possible whilst striving to create the perfect wine.

Give us your opinions on the grapes of the winning wine, plus its terroir and the climate – is it a challenging location in which to grow grapes? Is there any particular character that this terroir gives to the wine in the glass?
a) Savagnin blanc (65%)
This white Salvagnin grape gives backbone to the Ambassadeur Blanc.
The vines grow on the west-facing slopes at the entry to the Turtmann valley, on the left-hand side of the Rhone at an altitude of 850 metres on a loamy soil.
The altitude, the soil and the orientation of the plots allow this subtle acidity to develop in its best attire and give us a rare complexity.
b) Marsanne blanche (25%)
This variety of grape constitutes the exact counterpart to the former, growing on the right-hand side of the Rhone, in the best situation at 550metres altitude. On schistose soil with a south-facing orientation this produces a wine of great complexity and, with ideal maturity, a high alcohol potential.
c) Petite Arvine de Molignon (10%)
The grape variety Petite Arvine de Molignon grows at an altitude of 650 metres. This gives an aromatic wine which brings nobility with a discreet note of saltiness to the assemblage.
In order to create this wine, the result of six years of reflection, these three varieties are absolutely complementary.
Wine Description: With a bouquet suggestive of the zest of citrus fruits and peaches, underlined by an elegant touch of vanilla. Fresh and precise at first taste with discreet salty and mineral notes. Long and generous on the palate accompanied by the exuberance of tropical fruits and having a finish of magnificent complexity.

How many cases of the winning wine do you produce each year approximately? What is the total production of your winery?
In the first year, 2013, we produced 4329 bottles of Ambassadeur des Domaines Diego Mathier and in 2014 it will already be 8800 bottles.

When was your first vintage? What was the first vintage of this wine?
Despite the fact that I only took over the business in the year 2000, with my 46 years of age I can already proudly look back on over 30 grape harvests and claim to have been an active participant in these. In my youth, together with my parents, I was always implicated in the reception of the wine harvest.
The first harvest of the white Ambassadeur des Domaines Diego Mathier was in 2013. Consequently you have now tasted have the second vintage of our Ambassadeur des Domaines Diego Mathier.

Have any of your wines won a DWWA Regional or International Trophy in previous years? If so, please provide details.
We participated in this competition for the third time. We won the title Regional Trophy last year with the Ambassadeur des Domaines Diego Mathier AOC 2013.