Wines of The French Alps

Savoie, Bugey and beyond with local food and travel tips.

Wink Lorch

• Publisher: Wine Travel Media
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780992833145
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

Following on from Wink Lorch's award-winning Jura Wine book, Wink's second book focuses on the eclectic wines of Savoie, Bugey and other French Alpine wine regions.

After years hidden away in the craggy mountains, wines from Savoie and Bugey are now offered in restaurants and wine stores worldwide. This book tells the story of the men and women who make these characterful wines, how they have tamed the steep hillsides to plant the vines and mastered their unusual grape varieties.

Wink Lorch, who has lived part-time in the French Alps for over two decades, drove across numerous Alpine passes and climbed countless steep vineyards to explore Savoie and its neighbouring wine regions – Bugey and Isère, and, further south, Hautes-Alpes and the Clairette de Die area.

Alongside almost 120 producer profiles, Wines of the French Alps: Savoie, Bugey and beyond summarizes the appellations, terroir, grapes, winegrowing and winemaking, and explores the history that has made these wines worthy of a place on the finest tables. It features over 200 colour photographs by Mick Rock of Cephas and other professional photographers; it also includes 13 specially-commissioned maps and geological diagrams.

Wines of the French Alps is a more complete documentation on the wines of Savoie, Bugey and beyond than anything ever published, even in French. It is set to become an essential handbook for wine lovers and wine professionals alike.

Wines of the French Alps was short-listed for Best Drinks Book in the André Simon Awards 2019 and has received numerous positive reviews.

SETTING THE SCENE

A secret Mondeuse vineyard high above Lac du Bourget in Savoie.

The French Alpine wine regions lie south of the Jura and east of Beaujolais and the Rhône Valley wine regions, to the west of the Alps.

THE WINE REGIONS IN CONTEXT

The French Alps begin south of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) on the Swiss border and continue south until they disappear into the Mediterranean near Nice. The wine regions covered in this book begin in the west with Bugey, which lies southwest of Geneva, and end with the areas of the Diois and Hautes-Alpes, bordering on Provence. The most important wine region is Savoie, which stretches from Thonon-les-Bains on Lac Léman to south of Chambéry.

These Alpine regions are in the southern half of France, south of the watershed, where rivers run into the Mediterranean, rather than the North Sea. They are close to the magic latitude of 45°N, on which so many famous European wine regions lie.

In wine terms (and in food and tourist terms too), Savoie encompasses the two French departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie. The administrative capital of Haute-Savoie (literally Upper Savoie) is Annecy and that of Savoie is Chambéry. By far the greatest concentration of Savoie vineyards is within 35km of Chambéry.

The Bugey wine region lies between Lyon and Geneva in the department of Ain, east of its capital Bourg-en-Bresse. To the south, Isère is a large department whose capital is Grenoble – in this book, only the scattered, mainly recently revived, Alpine vineyard areas are addressed.

South of Grenoble, the Diois, where Clairette de Die comes from, is in the Drôme department. And on roughly the same latitude over the mountains to the east is the Hautes-Alpes wine region, which is in the department of the same name, south and east of its capital town, Gap.

The Diois and Hautes-Alpes mark the beginning of the southern French Alps. I decided that this should be the southerly limit of this book, as beyond this latitude, the Provençal flavours in both food and wine begin to dominate over the Alpine ones.

The departments of Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Ain, Isère and Drôme are all within the wealthy and tourist-frequented French political region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, whose regional capital is Lyon. Hautes-Alpes is the northernmost and most remote department of the PACA region – Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur – whose capital is Marseille.

The Chignin vineyards in Savoie lie on the foothills of the Bauges, part of the Prealps; in the background is the considerably higher Belledonne Alpine range of mountains.

Vineyards in Cerdon are among the highest in Bugey at nearly 500m, located in the southern Jura mountains.

The French Alpine vineyard regions

The total planted vineyard area in these Alpine regions is approximately 4,600ha; for comparison, less than one-third of that for the Alsace region. From these vineyards, a few hundred producers make about 35 million bottles of wine, which is less than 0.5% of the wine produced in France.

In terms of vineyard area, the region is split is as follows:

Savoie AOC: 46%

Bugey AOC: 10%

Diois AOC: 35%

IGPs of Savoie, Ain, Isère and Hautes-Alpes combined: 9%

These Alpine regions all share an important aspect – they lie on limestone-based slopes that form the foothills of the mountains. These are the foothills of the Prealps – the lower-altitude mountain ranges that lie below the Alps themselves. In the case of Bugey and the western parts of Savoie, geographically the vineyards are on the slopes of the southern Jura mountains which, geologically, are also termed as Prealps. Bugey has much more in common with Savoie than it does with Jura, sharing with Savoie many of its grape varieties, as well as its more recent history of fine wine development. However, those wine traders and wine lists that incorporate Bugey into Savoie do a disservice to both.

It is no surprise that there are many variations in climate, soil and aspect between these vineyard areas, but proximity to high mountains, the weather systems they create and the soils that they form provide the connection. Not only is the scenery dramatic, but the weather is too: high rainfall with a significant risk of storms, sometimes hailstorms; surprisingly strong sunshine and extreme changeability at times. But mountain slopes can also offer protection from the worst of the storms and provide rocky soils in which only the vine can thrive. Other geographical influences that are important here include broad glacial valleys and beautiful Alpine lakes, a feature of both Savoie and Hautes-Alpes. The Rhône river is never far away, and many of its tributaries, including the Isère, the Drôme and the Durance, run close to the vineyards.

Altitude: How high do grapes grow?

The highest vineyards in the French Alps are not in Savoie, but in the Hautes-Alpes (the name means the Upper Alps). Here there are a very few vineyards that touch 1,000m; the majority are between 600m and 700m. In the Diois, the vineyards stretch from 250m up to 700m, the highest being in the small still wine appellation and village of Châtillon-en-Diois. In Savoie and Bugey there are very few vineyards above 500m, with the top of most vineyard slopes at about 400m. This altitude is similar to the Jura and indeed Alsace, and is only slightly higher than the best vineyards of the Côte d’Or in Burgundy. To write that Savoie vineyards are particularly high altitude is thus a myth. To write that they are in a mountain area, however, is completely correct and the mountain influence on the terroir is important.

A snapshot of the wines

Below are the main appellation and grape names that appear on labels of wines of the French Alps; these should help you navigate the rest of the book. Part 2 of the book covers these in more detail for each region, along with the terroir, the grapes and how they are grown, and how the wines are made. Part 3 delves into each individual area and profiles the main producers.

Savoie appellations and wine styles: The regional appellation AOC Savoie covers white, red, rosé and sparkling wines and there are 16 cru names for wines from specific geographical areas, the best known being Apremont, Chignin, Chignin-Bergeron, Arbin, Chautagne, Jongieux, Crépy and Ayze. AOC Roussette de Savoie is for still white wines from the Altesse variety and may be followed by one of four crus, including Frangy and Marestel. About two-thirds of the still wines are whites. AOC Seyssel is for still white wines and Méthode Traditionnelle sparkling wines. Sparkling wines are also made under the more recent AOC Crémant de Savoie. The IGP Vin des Allobroges covers the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, the wines often coming from historic vineyard areas not covered by the Savoie AOC.

The landscape and buildings are almost Provençal in the Hautes-Alpes wine region, which lies in the foothills of the Ecrins mountains.

Main Savoie grapes: For whites – Jacquère, Altesse, Bergeron (a synonym for Roussanne), Chardonnay, Chasselas and Gringet. For reds – Mondeuse, Gamay, Pinot Noir and Persan. There are many more, mainly rare and indigenous, varieties.

Bugey appellations and wine styles: The regional appellation AOC Bugey covers white, red, rosé and sparkling wines with three crus, the most important of which is Cerdon, restricted to Méthode Ancestrale rosé sparkling wines. AOC Roussette du Bugey is for still white wines from the Altesse variety with two crus. Over 60% of Bugey’s production is sparkling wine (including Cerdon). About two-thirds of the still wines are whites. The IGP Coteaux de l’Ain covers mainly wines from historic vineyard areas not covered by the Bugey AOC.

Main Bugey grapes: For whites – Chardonnay, Altesse and Aligoté. For reds – Gamay, Pinot Noir and Mondeuse. For Bugey Cerdon – Gamay and Poulsard.

Isère appellations, wine styles and grapes: The IGP Isère covers two main vineyard zones: Balmes Dauphinoises and Coteaux du Grésivaudan. A large variety of grapes from Savoie, Burgundy and Rhône are grown, along with several rare varieties, to produce mainly still wines of all three colours.

The Diois appellations, wine styles and main grapes: Two sparkling AOCs cover the whole area and represent more than 95% of production: by far the largest is AOC Clairette de Die, based on the Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains grape, with some Aligoté and Clairette, most of it made using the Méthode Ancestrale; the second is AOC Crémant de Die (Clairette, Aligoté and Muscat), made using the Méthode Traditionnelle. AOC Coteaux de Die is a tiny regional appellation for Clairette still whites and AOC Châtillon-en-Diois covers red, rosé and white still wines for that specific area.

Hautes-Alpes appellation and grapes: A single IGP Hautes-Alpes covers the scattered vineyards of the department. Internationally known varieties are grown, along with some rare indigenous varieties, notably the red Mollard grape. Mainly still wines of all three colours are made, along with some sparkling.

How to get there and around

The main air travel hubs for the French Alps are Lyon in France, and Geneva in Switzerland. There are also small airports with international flights, mainly in the winter ski season, in Grenoble and Chambéry. These four cities, along with Bourg-en-Bresse (for Bugey), Annecy (for Savoie), Valence (for the Diois) and Gap (for Hautes-Alpes) also have good train connections throughout France and internationally.

If you want to visit these vineyards independently, then a car is essential, with snow tyres fitted in winter. However, be aware that the extent of these French Alpine regions is more than 300km driving distance north to south and 100–150km west to east. With so many scattered vineyard areas, even just within the Savoie wine region, the driving distances between wine producers can be substantial. And, off the motorway, be prepared to drive on slow, twisty and sometimes challenging mountain roads.

Bugey, Savoie and Isère wine regions are well served by motorways. On the A40, which runs from Mâcon to the Mont Blanc tunnel at Chamonix, you drive close to Bugey’s Cerdon vineyards. The A40 links to various motorways: the A42 towards Lyon allows easier access to the Bugey vineyards further south; the A41 runs from Geneva south to Annecy, Chambéry, and then to Grenoble. Near Chambéry, the A43 runs west to Lyon and east towards Albertville, along the Combe de Savoie valley, past some of the principal Savoie vineyards.

The A7 or Autoroute du Soleil, a key French motorway to access the Mediterranean, goes past Valence, from where main roads take you southeast to the Diois vineyards. To visit the Hautes-Alpes from the north, the best way is from Grenoble, driving along the famous Route Napoléon main road.

Most of the French Alps regions have some sort of wine route with signage in place.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF FRENCH ALPINE WINE REGIONS

The French Alps form a barrier that until modern times was challenging to traverse at any time and impassable in winter. However, their location was also a crossroads for people travelling both north to south and east to west, helping to explain why the French Alps ended up with such diverse grape varieties. The art of survival has always been a crucial skill for mountain dwellers; more recently wine has given them a chance to express their individuality.

The challenge in writing any history of the French Alps is that much of the area has been French for only a relatively short time. The province of Savoie (today’s departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie) was formerly ruled by the House of Savoy – for history purposes the term seems best in the anglicized form. Savoy’s territory included, at various times, parts of Vaud in Switzerland, Aosta and Piedmont in Italy, and later became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Savoie, as we know it today, became definitively French only in 1860. Bugey was also for centuries part of the Duchy of Savoy, coming under French rule from 1601. The regions to the south – in today’s Isère, Drôm...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1 Setting The Scene
• Part 2 All About The Wines
• Part 3 Places And People – The Wine Producers
• Part 4 Enjoying The Local Food And Wines
• Appendices
• Index
• Kickstarter backers
• Image credits
• Back Cover