Amphora® noir

The Mathiers came to Salgesch in 1387. Originally from Marseille, they migrated to Switzerland via Grenoble. The reason for this was poverty and the opportunity to earn money abroad as mercenaries. The Mathiers were recruited for military service in Valais and, after completing their duty, decided not to return to their homeland but to settle in Salgesch. They soon discovered that the area was ideal for winegrowing. And they realized that a good glass of wine was far more conducive to life than warfare. Albert Mathier - as the name suggests, the founder of Albert Mathier & Söhne AG - was born in 1891, the second of nine children. He married Monika in 1918. This marriage produced five children. When the global economy hit rock bottom, the family tried to defy the recession by plowing up fields and meadows and planting vines. With their winery, they laid the foundations for their own wine history and that of the red wine metropolis of Salgesch.

In search of the roots of viticulture, the current owner Amédée Mathier traveled to Georgia in 2008 to visit various wineries and private winegrowers who produced Qvevri wines. Although he didn't like everything - the natural fermentation in clay vessels is delicate and can cause mistakes - he was fascinated by this archaic way of making wine. He realized that these wines spoke a completely different language to the ones we are used to drinking. He decided to produce wines in the traditional Georgian style in future and imported eight original Qvevris from Georgia that same year. Since then, the company has been the first winery in Switzerland to produce grapes and wines in traditional Georgian qvevris (clay vessels), which were made in Georgia and transported from there to Switzerland. The Albert Mathier & Sons wine family is thus taking on a pioneering role in our country in the revival of the world's oldest, 8000-year-old winemaking method, which is protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The Albert Mathier & Söhne winery is a small family business that is committed to the enjoyment of wine lovers and has literally won awards: year after year, the liquid flagships of the Albert Mathier & Söhne wine family can be found at the top of the rankings in national and international wine competitions. Medals, diplomas and certificates that prove what you experience when you drink them: Quality of the very highest order. This winery is bursting with dynamism! On the basis of secure and highly proven Valais values, real innovations thrive here.

The Albert Mathier & Sons winery is the first in Switzerland to accompany grapes and wines in traditional Georgian kvevris (clay amphorae). In doing so, they are taking on the pioneering role in the revival of the oldest wine-making method in the world. Amphore® is a registered trademark of Albert Mathier & Söhne AG.

They have been working with Kvevris (Georgian for amphora) since 2009. The wall thickness of a Kvevri is only 1.5 cm. Without the counterpressure of the earth, a Kvevri cannot hold wine. The capacity of a kvevri is about 1,000 litres.

Those for fermentation are located outdoors and are built directly into the vineyard. Since 2014, they have also had an amphorium. The grapes are placed in the amphorae for one year directly after harvesting, where they ferment with the must. The turbid matter slowly sinks until the wine is clarified. Then it is stored for another year in acacia wood barrels, where it attains its clarity without filtration. Today, the process is part of UNESCO's intellectual world heritage.

The result is also called orange or natural wine. Natural wines are wines that have been produced as far as possible without additives and without elaborate oenological processes. Natural wines are trendy and have the reputation of tasting pretty crazy. But that is only half true. It is true, however, that most natural wines taste different from conventional wines. They often don't taste as fruity, but a bit more earthy or wild - in other words: special.