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Les Hauts Lieux: WAY Off the Beaten Path

Les Hauts Lieux: WAY Off the Beaten Path

by Chris Santini by Chris Santini

Day 2 of Our Wines of the Moment Day 2 of Our Wines of the Moment

2021 Hautes Alpes Blanc “Grains de Clotinaille”

2021 Hautes Alpes Blanc “Grains de Clotinaille”

Domaine Les Hauts Lieux   

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Domaine Les Hauts Lieux    France   |  Savoie, Bugey, Hautes-Alpes   |  IGP Hautes Alpes

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Your typical multigenerational vigneron tale this is not. Long story short: here we have a young fellow from the Loire who studies wine in Burgundy, bikes to Georgia (the country, that is) while stopping and working at various vineyards along the route to pay his way, bikes home, crowdfunds a crazy idea to plant vines high up in the Alps, and in 2019 is off and running and turning heads. We get wind of the project, track down our man (we find him working part-time at a local organic grocer to make ends meet), and the rest is history. This blanc is not what one might typically imagine a “mountain wine” to be, as while it has a crystalline edge, there is a surprising dollop of sun, heft, and deep, creamy notes of white flowers and citrus fruit.

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About The Region

Savoie, Bugey, Hautes-Alpes

map of Savoie, Bugey, Hautes-Alpes

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.

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Inspiring Thirst

A good doctor prescribed the wine of Nuits-Saint-Georges to the Sun King, Louis XIV, when he suffered an unknown maladie. When the king’s health was restored the tasty remedy enjoyed a vogue at court. Lord, send me a doctor like that!

Inspiring Thirst, page 117

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