Savoy
The Savoie vineyard is one of the smallest in France with 2,100 hectares.
It extends over the foothills of the Massif des Alpes, from Lake Geneva in the north to the Isère Valley in the south and forms wine-growing islets scattered across this highly mountainous territory. The erosions of the surrounding massifs mainly offer stony soils composed mainly of limestone scree which naturally give the wines mineral and saline textures. This vineyard is also a mosaic of terroirs of Quaternary alluvium, glacial moraines and other Tertiary molasses.
In Savoie, we mainly find indigenous grape varieties unique in the world such as Gringet for example. White grape variety enhanced by the biodynamic work of which Dominique Belluard has made it his specialty...
The production of Savoyard natural wines mainly consists of white wines (70%) with the emphasis on typical grape varieties such as Altesse, Jacquère and Chasselas. Jean-Yves Perron, another great name among the natural winegrowers of Savoie, for example works Jacquère biodynamically with great elegance, his cuvée Les Oeillets thus offers us an illustration of this. Just like the La Pente vintage from the Côtes Rousses estate where Nicolas and Marielle Ferrand give us a natural jacquère with a broad and supple aromatic profile. To make us forget all the prejudices we may have about Savoyard white wines!
We find a lower production of red; also with local grape varieties such as the famous Mondeuse and Persan.
Antoine Petitprez, a well-known winemaker in the world of natural wines from Burgundy and Savoie, offers us a top-flight Mondeuse with his Ascendance cuvée which gives us a solid, tannic and colorful natural red wine with an aromatic profile of peppery black fruits and a beautiful framework of 'acidity. Thus illustrating the great aging capacity of natural Savoie wines.
Another endemic grape variety of the region with magnificent aging potential: Persian. Vinified as a natural wine, the latter produces bouquety and tannic red wines with aromas of raspberries and violets. Brice Omont, for the Ardoisières estate, made no mistake in naturally vinifying this grape variety in a blend with Mondeuse for his Amétthyste cuvée.
But the natural reds of Savoie also know how to offer other profiles to curious tasters of natural wines from this region! So you can also find Gamay there, like with the Veronnet Rouge cuvée from Corentin Houillon, with a delicious and bright red fruit!
The Savoie vineyard is constantly evolving, with winegrowers who, despite the heavy annual rainfall, choose natural vinification in order to give the wines their purest expression.
This region is also known and recognized for its production of artisanal liqueurs, particularly in the Chartreuse valley where these famous eponymous plant liqueurs come from, but also natural artisanal beers such as those from the Brasserie des Voirons, which are strive to create naturally brewed lambics locally. The Brasserie du Mont Salève is not to be outdone and does not hesitate to create batches where hops and Savoyard grape varieties mix. So Michael Novo, for the Mont Salève brewery, had the good idea of creating “Mondeuse” beer: a batch of natural beer macerated with Mondeuse marc from Corentin Houillon.
