Mathilde Hug Pédeutour of Wegelin
– Only 35 Years Old
– She May Be the Most Brilliant Young Winemaker in Switzerland
– She’s Also French
– The “Total Intelligence” of Great Winemakers
– The Upside for this Estate is Limitless
Grisons
– Switzerland’s Most Exciting Wine Region
– The … Perfect … Terroir … for … Pinot Noir
– I Would Say to Buy These Because of the Burgundy Shortage But That’s an Insult to This Wine
– I’d Buy It If I Had 1er Cru Burgundy Coming out of My Faucet
The Style
– A Cross Between the Elegance and Clarity of Brisset
– and the Occasional Skosh of the Sexy Fruit of Buffet/Rebourgeon
– The Elegance of High End Burgundy
2020 Wegelin Malanser Blauburgunder Scadena
– 94 Points, 2018, WA, Reinhardt
– One of the Most Distinctive Pinot Noirs We Sell
– Nothing Like This in Burgundy
– Nose: the Distinct Impression of Flawlessness
– A Breeze Coming out of a Valley in Nature
– Cherry Flowers. Violets. Lilacs.
– Lovely Herbal Notes
– Absolutely Elite Aromatic Precision
– The Brisset of the Mountains
– Palate: an Utter Joy to Drink
– Perfect, Perfect, Perfect Mid Season Cherries
– Genetically Bonded Cherry Spice
– Elite Levels of Precision (Think Brisset)
– Linear – Balance Is Perfect
– That Mere Hint of Elegant Sluttiness
– Like the Whisper of a Ball Gown as it Graces the Floor
– Terrific Structure – Will Age Wonderfull
– “deep, pure, refined and complex bouquet” (WA)
– “toasty and spicy aromas.” (WA)
– “Full-bodied, refined and fresh on the palate” (WA)
– “elegant and deep” (WA
– “firmly structured and persistent” (WA)
2021 Wegelin Scadena Weissburgunder
– 93 Points, 2019, WA, Reinhardt
– Pinot Blanc is basically Pinot Noir with a single mutation
– “a unique terroir” (WA)
– “600 meters above sea level” (WA)
– “sandy limestones and phyllites as well as dark limestones and clay slates” (WA)
– “The nose of the bright and radiant Pinot Blanc is clear and fresh” (WA)
– “clearly represents a coolish and characterful terroir” (WA)
– “notes of bright fruits and crushed, slightly flinty notes” (WA)
– Palate: “clear, fresh and elegant” (WA)
– “finely structured” (WA)
– “sustainably salty” (WA)
– “delicate yeasty notes and fine tannins” (WA)
Golden Canary Flawless
The Golden Canary diamond is the largest flawless diamond in the worl at 303.10 carats. It was originally 407 carats and was recut to be in a more traditional pear shape. The diamond was discovered in the early 1980s in what is now the Congo. It was in a pile of rocks as it was not thought possible that anything that size could be a diamond.
Flaws in diamonds are caused by impurities within the diamond. Most commonly, this is nitrogen. Diamonds are typically 99.95% carbon. One of the major factors impacting the value of a diamond is, of course, how many impurities it has and how large they are.
For uber wine geeks who just love to sniff and swirl and look for flaws (so that we can pronounce them) – finding a flawless wine is quite the discovery.
Our Young French Genius Wegelin’s Mathilde Hug Pédeutour
I don’t want to exaggerate, but there are wines made by this estate that are so good, when you taste them, you almost pass out. This is one of them.
The winemaker here is Mathilde Hug Pédeutour. Mathilde is only 35 years old. When she told us that, we really almost didn’t believe her. She’s incredibly young to be making wines with this level of elegance, balance and aromatics.
Mathilde is also French. She got a BS in chemistry and went to wine school in Toulouse. After internships in the US, New Zealand and Burgundy, she came to the estate in 2016. To be fair, she is getting pretty much perfect fruit from her husband, who manages the vineyards. She’s obviously a great winemaker. But man – she is smart. The vintages I tried were not the product of luck. Everything about the estate is well thought out. The labels. The cellar. The organization of the staff. That’s what I mean by “Total Intelligence.”
The Style
These wines are high end Burgundy. Full stop.
I’d say that they are a cross between the elegance and clarity of Brisset with the occasional skosh of the sexy fruit of Buffet/Rebourgeon.
I’ve had some back vintages of these wines and with age, the upside for this estate is frightening. And given the age of the winemaker and vineyard manager, they will only get better.
Grisons
Briefly, Grisons is the most popular region for Pinot Noir in Switzerland. The most famous (and expensive) estates are there. The wineries all sell out. And the terroir is perfect for Pinot Noir. The altitude is high which prevents over ripening that would otherwise be a challenge in warm vintages. You have cooling freezes at night. 40 years ago, it was too cold to make top end pinot noir (or these wines would be recognized and $200 a bottle). But now, it’s perfect.
The Wines
The first wine is one of the pinot noirs that is making Wegelin famous. It’s the 2020 Wegelin Malanser Blauburgunder Scadena for $42.99 a bottle each on a 3 pack.
Good God, this is a great bottle of pinot noir.
It should cost WELL North of $100.
When you first swirl and sniff this wine, your first impression is flawlessness. Perfection. It presents an initial sniff of freshness. Like a breeze coming out of a valley in nature. You then notice the specifics of the aromatics. Cherry flowers. Violets. Lilacs. Lovely herbal notes. The aromatic precision is absolutely elite.
The palate is a joy to drink. Perfect, perfect, perfect mid season cherries. The spice is just that genetically bonded cherry spice. You get both the sweetness of the cherry fruit and that little hint of spice both right there on a line. Like they are sitting there on the edge of a knife. You can taste each but nothing juts out. The precision here, if you will forgive the obviousness of the metaphor, is like a Swiss Watch. So, so linear. But this is not just a wine of technical perfection. You get just that mere hint of elegant sluttiness. Like the whisper of a ball gown as it graces the floor.
This is a masterful pinot noir that got 94 points from Stephan Reinhardt for the 2018 vintage which is similar to 2020. Reinhardt is quite stingy with his scores, especially for pinot noir. When we tasted it, the oak had largely integrated and a year later, it should be completelt integrated based on our experience tasting several older vintages.
These wines are sold out at the estate and we were lucky to get a small allocation. I cannot emphasize enough how good this wine is. The terroir and winemaking skills are world class.
I don’t usually lean on critics for tasting notes for wines we’ve had but in this case, the honor should go to the critic who brought these to our attention.
“Fermented in oak and aged in (70% new) barriques for 24 months, the 2018 Malanser Blauburgunder Scadena reveals a deep, pure, refined and complex bouquet with phenolic or even greenish (or minty) notes (50% whole clusters) intertwined with toasty and spicy aromas. Full-bodied, refined and fresh on the palate, this is an elegant and deep, firmly structured and persistent Pinot from 600 meters in altitude and still a bit dominated by the aging in small oak barrels, but this wine should be terrific in a few years’ time and should still be impressive in a decade or two. This is a tight and tensioned Pinot for ambitious Pinot lovers. 13.5% stated alcohol. Diam cork. Tasted in Zurich in February 2022.” – 94 Points, 2018, WA, Stephen Reinhardt
The second wine is the 2021 Wegelin Scadena Weissburgunder for $64.99 a bottle each on a 3 pack.
Why on earth am I offering pinot blanc? I certainly have more readily accepted grapes to sell.
Why? Because this wine is brilliant.
Please recall that Hanspeter Ziereisen makes incredible wine from the equally well regarded Pinot Grigio. Great winemakers can make great wines from grapes that are normally made into table wine.
As Reinhardt correctly points out, the terroir here is unique and makes for a brilliantly different wine.
Also – please recall that Pinot Blanc is basically Pinot Noir with a single mutation. So the potential for terrific complexity is there.
Again, we’ll let Reinhardt take it away.
“Vinified in barriques for nine months and bottled in December 2020, the 2019 Scadena Weissburgunder represents a unique terroir at 600 meters above sea level on sandy limestones and phyllites as well as dark limestones and clay slates. The nose of the bright and radiant Pinot Blanc is clear and fresh and aromatically still influenced by the 30% new oak share. However, the nose clearly represents a coolish and characterful terroir with notes of bright fruits and crushed, slightly flinty notes. On the palate, this is a clear, fresh and elegant, finely structured, sustainably salty and refreshing white with delicate yeasty notes and fine tannins. Still young, this is an excellent white to have with fish and white meat. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in Zurich in February 2022.” – 93 Points, 2019, WA, Stephan Reinhardt
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your firstorder if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
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I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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