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Sailing into Summer

Sailing into Summer

by Allyson Noman by Allyson Noman

2023 Chignin Blanc

2023 Chignin Blanc

André & Michel Quenard   

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André & Michel Quenard    France   |  Savoie, Bugey, Hautes-Alpes   |  Savoie

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Quenard’s bracing Alpine whites have long been favorites of the staff here at KLWM. I remember seeing a colleague post a photo of a bottle of Chignin while aboard a sun-drenched sailboat last year, and I thought, I would like to do that! The following weekend, I brought a bottle to a picnic at the Berkeley Marina—not quite a boat, but close enough. Most recently, I enjoyed a glass while watching the day turn slowly into dusk. We often tout Quenard’s wines as perfect après-ski, a nod to their idyllic mountain roots, but this aromatic bottling of Savoie’s Jacquère strikes me as distinctly apt for warm weather.
     Redolent of summery white peach, it’s lush and perfectly tart, finishing with a chalky freshness that recalls the limestone soil in which it grows. Notes of white flowers—somewhere between jasmine and citrus blossom—evoke the turn of the season. I’m a fan of any bottle that’s versatile enough to go from boat, to picnic, to dinner table, and this blanc delivers. It has an energetic glow and goes with just about anything at the table—a canned sardine and green garden salad was a recent knock-out. And this delicious season with its long, lazy sunsets makes a good match for a cold glass all on its own.

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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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Vintage Chart

Trust the great winemakers, trust the great vineyards. Your wine merchant might even be trustworthy. In the long run, that vintage strip may be the least important guide to quality on your bottle of wine.—Kermit Lynch

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