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2021 Savoie Chignin Mondeuse “Voie Royale”
Guillaume QuenardGuillaume Quenard represents the third generation of his family to helm A. & M. Quenard, the domaine named for his grandfather and father, André and Michel. But, like a member of a band who yearns to pursue their own solo experiments on the side, Guillaume has also recently begun to bottle wines under his own name. Voie Royale is one of three such cuvées, each of which pays homage to a period of Savoie’s illustrious history. Named for the road that runs by the vineyard—consecrated as a “royal road” by Italy’s King Victor Emmanuel II in the 19th century—Voie Royale is the only rouge in Guillaume’s trilogy, originating from organically farmed Mondeuse vines planted in 1956 on near-vertical slopes of limestone scree.
While the vinification of the family domaine’s old-vine Mondeuse remains fairly constant year after year, for his own bottling Guillaume is testing a range of aging vessels—foudre and concrete egg alike—as well as maceration times, depending on the vintage. For the 2021 rendition, he aged this Voie Royale entirely in foudre, and the result is an utterly distinctive, perfumed, and stony rouge evoking freshly pressed grapes, tart fruit, and violets. For the most delicious crossover of soul food and the Savoie—France’s land of fondue and raclette, try this recipe from Brown Sugar Kitchen's founder, Tanya Holland, that takes mac and cheese to another level.
You can find Tanya Holland’s recipe here.
—Tom Wolf
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2021 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Mondeuse |
Appellation: | Savoie Chignin |
Country: | France |
Region: | Savoie, Bugey, Hautes-Alpes |
Producer: | André & Michel Quenard |
Winemaker: | Guillaume Quenard |
Vineyard: | Planted in 1956, .8 h |
Soil: | Clay, Limestone |
Aging: | Aged in foudre |
Farming: | Haute Valeur Environnementale (certified) |
Alcohol: | 12% |
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2023 Chignin Gamay
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With notes of mixed black and red fruit and a spine of minerality, Quenard’s Gamay is crunchier, more aromatic, and more succulent than most bottles you’d find in Beaujolais.
2023 Chignin Blanc
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This Jacquère grown on Savoie’s limestone mountainsides may be the crispest beverage to ever grace your palate.
2023 Roussette de Savoie “Les Craies”
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The wine is bone-dry but offers a wonderful nose of bergamot and honeysuckle, along with a zippy freshness supported by all the Alpine minerality you would expect from fruit grown in stony soils in the Alps.
2023 Savoie Chignin Pinot Noir
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2022 Savoie Chignin-Bergeron “Les Roches Blanches”
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2021 Savoie Chignin-Bergeron “Le Grand Rebossan”
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2020 Savoie Chignin-Bergeron “Côteau des Ducs”
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Lychee and ripe citrus wrapped in beeswax. You might think there are a bunch of busy benevolent bees whiling away inside your glass.
About The Producer
André & Michel Quenard
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.
About The Region
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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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
Great winemakers, great terroirs, there is never any hurry. And I no longer buy into this idea of “peak” maturity. Great winemakers, great terroirs, their wines offer different pleasures at different ages.
Inspiring Thirst, page 312