2021 Grolleau “Franc de Pied”Bernard Baudry
France | Loire
$36
Producers
Still white wines, from the aptly named Rhône-Alps region, dynamically represent their parent climates: Rhône-like with their warm, sun-kissed expression of stone fruits, and Alp-like with their crystalline purity and cooling limestone minerality. Les Abymes, 100% Jacquère, is the most weightless and delicate expression of this combination I’ve ever tasted. They say “what grows together goes together,” but I paired Les Abymes with a very un-Savoyard and rather Italian spaghetti al limone, which felt as simple and celestial as pairings come.
—Jane Berg
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Jacquère |
Appellation: | Savoie |
Country: | France |
Region: | Savoie and Bugey |
Producer: | André & Michel Quenard |
Winemaker: | André & Michel Quenard |
Vineyard: | 50 years, 1.14 ha |
Soil: | Marl, Limestone scree |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 11.5% |
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie Chignin
André et Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Vin de Savoie
André et Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie Chignin-Bergeron
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Vin de Savoie
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie Chignin
The Savoie is a picture of fairy-tale perfection: snow-capped peaks, rolling hills, and sparkling mountain streams. This idyllic region is where Michel Quenard farms twenty-two hectares of vineyards along the steep slopes around Chignin. His grandfather started the domaine in the 1930s. Though he slowly increased his vineyard holdings, he mostly sold off his wine. It wasn’t until 1960 that Michel’s father, André, began bottling under their own label. Michel joined the domaine in 1976. Today, he is joined by his sons, Guillaume and Romain. Their cuvées go beyond the simple “eclectic” that categorizes wines from Savoie; they are unique revelations that reflect the complexity of their terroir and the artistry of this master.
Fifteen or twenty years ago, there was little buzz about the wines of Savoie, the Alpine region hugging the Swiss and Italian borders. In fact, most wines from Savoie were some combination of overcropped, thin, searingly acidic, and painfully rustic; even the best examples rarely made it out of the local mountain resorts, where they were served as an après-ski to wash down many a melty croque-monsieur.
But all that has changed, and today Savoie produces a number of top-quality wines in all styles, from simple thirst-quenchers to wines of substantial gravity. Kermit sought out some of these wines early in his career, having imported the spritzy, mineral whites of Apremont and Chignin in the late 1970s.
With vineyards at the foot of the Alps that occasionally climb to higher elevations, Savoie is defined by its mountain-influenced climate and extremely rocky terrain, with abundant limestone. Thanks to a diversity of indigenous grape varieties, quality-oriented growers with the choicest parcels—steep and well-exposed—can craft anything from crisp, low-alcohol whites from Jacquère to deep, gamey reds from Mondeuse. More serious whites are made from Altesse as well as Bergeron, the local name for Roussanne, which the Romans planted on the slopes of Chignin around the same time as they introduced it to the Rhône Valley.
Savoie’s diversity of styles and distinct sub-regions, from Arbin to Seyssel to the Bugey (technically not a part of Savoie, but included here for convenience) makes it a fascinating region for the thirsty explorer. There is no better place to look for brisk mountain refreshment.
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Vin de Savoie
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie Chignin
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Crémant de Savoie
André et Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Vin de Savoie
André et Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie Chignin-Bergeron
Patrick Bottex France | Savoie and Bugey | Bugey
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie Chignin
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie Chignin
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Savoie
André & Michel Quenard France | Savoie and Bugey | Roussette de Savoie
For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.
Drinking distilled spirits, beer, coolers, wine and other alcoholic beverages may increase cancer risk, and, during pregnancy, can cause birth defects. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/alcohol
Many food and beverage cans have linings containing bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical known to cause harm to the female reproductive system. Jar lids and bottle caps may also contain BPA. You can be exposed to BPA when you consume foods or beverages packaged in these containers. For more information, go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/bpa