Domaine des Ardoisieres Rouge, L'Argile, IGP Allobrogie 2010Savoie

A Savoie Red wine made from 80% Gamay and 20% Persan and Mondeuse from Domaine des Ardoisieres, IGP Allobrogie  Rouge, L'Argile. This is a bright red wine and has fast forming legs when the glass is swirled, on the nose there are red fruits and spice with some vegetal notes. On tasting it there are again red fruits, spice and a little minerality with a svoury streak, the acidity is freshning and the low ripe tannins are tasty and slightly chalky in texture.The length is good with an acidic fruity finish.

Domaine Gilles Berlioz Chignon Vin de Savoie 2010

Chignon Vin de Savoie 2010 is a Biodynamically made blended wine from the Jacquere grape along with Chardonnay and Mondeuse ( a very important Savoie Red variety) in the Savoie region of Eastern France made by Domaine Gilles Berlioz. This is not a particularly aromatic wine but there were slight aromas of apple, pear and stone fruits, on the palate flavours of apple, lemon and baked fruits, good acidity and simple, single dimension flavour array and the alcohol does not interrupt this wines character ( 11.5%), the length was short and had a crisp lemon finish. Overall my feelings on this wine are that it is a simple, clean, crisp aperitif wine that has alot of the Savoie in it - cool region wines that have not been tampered with. This wine is supplied by the Wine Society - £10.95

Domaine de L'Idylle Emile Cepage Roussette 2010 from Savoie

 Domaine de L'Idylle Emile Cepage Roussette 2010 is a white wine made from Roussette grapes which are also known as Altesse, this is a high quality grape found in the Savoie and is thought to have alot in common with Hungary's Furmint grape. Pale lemon and with floral and lemon pith aromas it also has a pear drop tinge on the nose. Tasting it reveals good acidity, low alcohol and medium body - balanced and in tune with where it originated. It has minerality layered with green apple and lemon and a slight pithy finish and later its profile also included biscuity notes and made me think this had seen some skin and lees contact. This was crispness with a wrapping!
Yapp brothers stock this wine and the cost is just over £12.

La Goutte D'Or Crepy 2009 Savoie

La Goutte D'Or Crepy 2009 is a white wine made using the Chasselas grape.
Crepy is a named cru of the  Vin de Savoie appellation, covering three communes immediately north-east of Geneva in the Savoie region of eastern  France. Crepy wines are white and are made predominantly from the Chasselas grape . 1948 until 2009 Crepy had its own appelation, but then its growers collectively agreed that their wines were best marketed under the Vin de Savoie title. Their main argument was that Crepy lacked a geographical context, as it was not named after a village or area.
This is a pale lemon in colour with floral aromas along with pear drop and pastry mixed in, on tasting it it had freshning acidity, low alcohol and minerality streaks on top of green apple and citrus.
A light wine that could support food happily due to its clean dry freshness.
It is worth comparing to the Alsace Chasselas that was further down the blog Pierre Frick 2009. You will see that it was much more stone fruits but still floral with a touch of melon - this of course is due to the warmer region.

Vin de Savoie-Ayse Gringet 'Les Alpes' 2010

Domaine Belluard produces Vin de Savoie-Ayse Gringet 'Les Alpes' 2010 in Ayes using the grape Gringet ( which is an unusual grape to use in a varietal still wine ) in the beautiful Savoie region of France, he converted to Biodynamics in 2001and after trying wooden barrels and steel tanks and being disappointed with the results, he switched (at a considerable cost) to concrete eggs, because he felt that the controlled aeration they allowed yielded the best results. The actual vineyard 'Les Alpes' is a south-facing vineyard at 450 meters with glacial moraine, limestone and clay soils which have some iron content.









Shown here are the Egg fermenters used by Belluard , these are also used in Sancerre and Chablis.

The wine itself is quite deep lemon / gold, its fresh young aromas are of stone fruit and apple, there is minerality hovering in the background. On tasting it - fresh, clean, meyer lemon and a zesty finish. The acidity keeps the fruit wrapped in freshness and there is a steeliness to this wine that feels taut with energy and briskness. A great aperitif!

Supplied by Caves de Pyrene at a cost of £18.49