Valais producers have a taste for competitions
The largest wineries in Valais were taking part in wine competitions by the middle of the 19thcentury. These noted tastings were most often organized as part of major events such as the Swiss agricultural exposition, cantonal exposition and Swiss national exposition. The easiest traces of this comes from the wines at Domaine du Mont d’Or (Pont-de-la-Morge): from the Bern Exposition in 1857 to the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889, we can still follow the performances of the wines from this highly reputed domain, noted on certain labels.
On the international scene
The history of international wine competitions dates back to the 1950s. The oldest of these is Ljubljana, in Slovenia, which has been held without interruption since 1954. A number of Valais producers took part at the outset and continue to participate today. They also take part in the Vinalies International competition in Paris, created in 1993; it welcomes some 3,000 bottles every year. Valais wines are also tasted at the Vinitaly competition, also created in 1993 in Verona – in 2007 it had 3,500 wines registered for the competition. Valais wines also take part in the Sélections mondiales des vins de Montréal (Canada), in Mundus Vini in Neustadt (Germany), and in particular in the Mondial du Pinot Noir in Sierre, since 1998.
Sourced from
CURDY Philippe « Avant les Romains, les premiers services à vin » in Histoire de la Vigne et du Vin en Valais : des origines à nos jours, Sierre-Salgesch, Musée valaisan de la Vigne et du Vin, Gollion, Infolio, 2009.