Thank you for your support of the wine club. We are excited to highlight the Savoie region for this month s club.

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Piers Luke Golden
5 years ago
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1 April 2018

2 Thank you for your support of the wine club. We are excited to highlight the Savoie region for this month s club. I m writing from New York, where the weather is about as chilly as Chicago, or at least as unseasonably cold. Unseasonable has to be of the most disliked words in the English language. It s as worrisome as abnormal and as distasteful as underseasoned which is not actually a word the spellcheck tells me, but I guess just a term to connote lack of flavor, lack of completeness. We re trying to embrace this in-between time with our focus this month. The arrival of multiple allocations from Eastern France came just in time for the club. Since it s not fully recognizable as neither spring nor winter, we look to a region with similar duality. It can be winter up on the mountain but spring in the valley! Nathan wisely suggested that featuring Alpine wine evoked not just snow, but, with some imagination, melting snow. We are trying to place ourselves in a grassy field of wildflowers for a solidly spring-like moment. We hope these wines cull the warmer weather, hopefully before it s just summer. In any case, the wines would be great with grilled fish come June or July, but if you re not ready to put away your raclette kit, fire away. With gratitude, Cubby, Nathan, Catie O., Mac & Katherine

the domaine was planted during Roman times, then became overgrown with forest.

5 Ardoisieres, Silice Blanc, 2016 From Domaine des Ardoisieres, it seems Mont Blanc is everywhere. The towering mountain watches over this small estate near the Swiss border from every angle, shaping the wines so expertly grown and made here.the domaine was planted during Roman times, then became overgrown with forest. A passionate group of supporters cleared the vineyard in 1998 and began piecing the steep terraces back together to create Domaine des Ardoisieres. Since 2005, Champagne native Brice Omont has taken over the winemaking and is now considered one of the most exciting producers in

6 France. For the very first time, Brice s wines are being imported to the United States.The domaine s 17 acres of vineyards are planted on steep, rocky slopes high above the town of Freterive. The entire production is sourced from two single vineyard sites: Cevins and St. Pierre de Soucy. The domaine produces five different cuvées (three white, two red) using the area s unique varietals, including Altesse, Jacquère, Mondeuse, Gamay and Persan. The domaine has employed biodynamic principles in the vineyard since the vines were planted. The reds are produced without any destemming, and all the wines are fermented with native yeasts. Brice s wines are brilliantly unique, capturing the stony and mineral character of the vineyard terraces, and possessing an amazing crystalline purity. Drinking these wines from the side of Mont Blanc is like tasting freshly squeezed juice running off a glacier. This is the second vintage of this cuvee, which is 100% Jacquere. Brice made this wine at the request of many of his doting cult of beverage directors and importers to have a wider, more available offering. It works with all kinds of food. It is very quaffable, pleasurable, delicious mountain wine. To cook with: Salmon Nicoise salad, Red lentil soup, Fried cauliflower & lemons Belluard, Les Alpes, 2016 Dominique Belluard, Dom to his friends, has worked his family s domaine in Ayse since When Dom took over, the domaine was in polyculture, with dairy cows, apples, and other crops in addition to grapes. Dom is very much a farmer, but he wanted to focus his energies on being a vigneron, so he increased the vineyard plantings. He was particularly drawn to Gringet, a white variety found only in Ayse that was nearly extinct. A few local growers sold grapes to the co-op for sparkling wine, but there were no efforts to make fine wine or vins de garde from Gringet. Dom expanded his family s plantings through selection massale and has spent the past couple decades becoming the master of Gringet and showing the world its potential in Ayze s terroir. Ayze is only about 30 miles from Mont Blanc, but the Belluard vineyards are planted relatively lower to allow ripening. Dom has vineyards planted from 300 to 450 meters above sea level. Make no mistake, these are mountain wines. But they are not planted next to ski slopes. All are farmed biodynamically and were planted by selection massale. The vine ages vary from ten to sixty yearls old. Domaine Belluard has about half of the Gringet planted in the world. Prior to Dom rediscovering the variety, Gringet was used almost exclusively for sparkling wine intended for casual chugging. Dom honors that heritage and makes two beautiful sparkling Gringets. He also explores the grape s potential for still wines and has found it to be expressive of Ayze s terroir and delicious. In addition, Dom makes still wines with two other, more common Savoyard varieties Altesse (also called Rousette) and Mondeuse. Dom s cellar practices are as careful and thoughtful as his

7 farming. All fermentations are native and elevage typically occurs in cement or stainless steel. Dom sees great potential in cement eggs for elevage and has invested greatly in them, as he thinks the movement on the lees suits Gringet particularly well. Les Alpes is Dom s still Gringet bottling. Always fresh, aromatic in a very delicate way, and often a wine of texture. From grapes grown at 350 meters. To cook with: Asparagus mimosa, Mountain cheeses, Roast chicken Saint-Germain, Mondeuse, 2015 Domaine Saint-Germain was established in 1999 by brothers Etienne and Raphaël Saint-Germain. The two hail from a family of grape growers and, after training in enology and plant biology, they began estate bottling. Located under the Arclusaz mountains and the Parc Naturel des Bauges in Saint-Pierre d Albigny, facing the Alps, the two brothers produce regionally typical and delicate wines with local grapes. Today Raphaël runs the estate and has gradually built up the vineyard holdings and gained a loyal clientele as well as some excellent reviews from the French press. With quiet determination, they converted their vineyards to organics and, over the simple winemaking cellar, built a tasting room overlooking the town of St-Pierre d Albigny and the Combe de Savoie. They are now one of the leading lights in the region, working 12 hectares of vineyards of unique varieties including Jacquere, Mondeuse, Altesse, Persan, Molette and Gringet. The soils here are a glacial mixture of clay, sandstone and quartz. These are true mountain wines with exceptional purity and cut. Mondeuse [mohn-deuhz] is a native to Savoie and has been cultivated by the Gallic tribe of Ancient Gaul (the Allobroges) prior to the Roman invasion. Columella, the famous roman writer who wrote about farming and agriculture, referred to mondeuse as the grape variety that ripens amidst the snow. Mondeuse strives on scree slopes, marl and limestone soils. Its best expression can be found in the commune of Arbin. Wines made from mondeuse have a deep purple color, a wellstructured acidity and well-integrated tannins. This wine comes from a 1.28 hectare parcel of Mondeuse planted to clay and siliceous soils. Half the stems remained during the 7 day maceration. The other half was gently pressed in a pneumatic press. Natural yeast fermentation. Aged 12 months in stainless steel. Bright color with a nose of blackcurrant. Sharp and peppery on the palate, typical of Mondeuse, with pleasant roundness. To cook with: Warm beet salad, Pasta with pancetta, Bavette steak with course salt

WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF OUR 2015 PROFILE

WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF OUR 2015 PROFILE 2015 marks the 32nd vintage of our iconic Napa Valley Red Wine. Profile exemplifies our family s goal to grow and produce a wine of exceptional