From: Chignin-Bergeron, Savoie, France
Varietal: Bergeron (aka Roussanne)
Tasting Notes: Expressive aromas of tangerine, apricot, and peach mingle with notes of lilac, acacia blossom, and a distinctive bouquet of mountain herbs. The palate is at once voluminous and exacting, with a core of apricot, ripe peach, and quince highlighted by a complementary lemon citrus quality, a fresh saline minerality, and smoky alpine savory notes.
Pairing: Tom Wolf from Kermit Lynch suggests pairing this wine with crabmeat risotto, shrimp and grits, or wild mushrooms on toast. To add a few more options, we’d recommend enjoying “Les Terrasses” alongside grilled halibut, spaghetti carbonara, lobster, or veggies dipped in Raclette for a dish that will transport you to the region. The following dish will also play beautifully on the rich, steely, and savory elements of the wine.
Whole Roasted Fish With Wild Mushrooms
By Melissa Clark
About, from Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants. Savoie is a picture of fairy-tale perfection: snow-capped peaks, green rolling hills, wildflowers, and cold, sparkling mountain streams. This idyllic region hugs the western Alps, where Michel Quenard and his family farm twenty-two hectares of vineyards along the steep, rocky slopes of the Coteau de Torméry around Chignin. The limestone scree that makes up this vineyard land, resulting from millions of years of erosion of the majestic peaks of the Massif des Bauges, lends great character to the wines produced here.
Michel’s grandfather started the domaine in the 1930s. Though he slowly increased the vineyard holdings, he also sold off most of his wine in bulk. It was not until 1960 that Michel’s father, André, began bottling under their own label. Armed with a degree in viticulture and enology from Beaune, Michel joined the domaine in 1976, expanding vineyard holdings and making improvements to the cellar. Today, he is joined by his son Guillaume. While they are far from the only Quenards in Chignin, they are certainly the most well-known—perhaps this is due to the severity of their terrain and the quality of wines it produces.
Despite the domaine’s proximity to the Alps, the vineyards enjoy a surprisingly warm microclimate with southern sun exposure. Fig and olive trees are also found among the vines, unusual for such a snowy region. There are twenty-one crus in the Savoie appellation, encompassing more than twenty permitted cépages—including several endemic varieties exclusive to Savoie. The Quenards’ vineyards are planted to some of the region’s best known, with a focus on Bergeron (the local name for Roussanne), Jacquère, Mondeuse, and Altesse. Michel and Guillaume bottle multiple cuvées, highlighting the region’s diversity of grape varieties and the different terroirs they farm. The stoniness of their vineyards expresses an alpine freshness and lively minerality in their wines. Their cuvées go beyond the simple “eclectic” that categorizes wines from the region; whether they are quaffed or savored, they are all unique revelations that reflect the complexity of their terroir and the fine artistry of these master vignerons.
Andrew Jefford writes in his contemporary classic, The New France, “Michel Quenard and his father André are masters of the Bergeron grape, known in the Rhône Valley and elsewhere as Roussanne. They argue it should be limited to the best and steepest local sites where it can ripen fully, like the Coteau de Torméry, giving wines of real texture and perfume as it does so” (p 122).
About this wine
This wine comes from one of the 16 crus within the Savoie AOC known as Chignin-Bergeron: the only cru named for its one permitted grape variety, Bergeron (also known as Roussanne). The 2022 André et Michel Quenard Chignin-Bergeron Les Terrasses is sourced from a three-hectare plot of 25-year-old Bergeron vines planted on limestone scree slopes so steep that they had to be terraced. The rocky soils and steepness allows for good drainage, which also contributes to a balanced ripening process that encourages lower yields and good quality grapes.
Terraced slopes are rare in Savoie, where vineyards are usually planted in the direction of the slope; terraces in this vineyard not only increase the efficiency of vineyard work, but they also allow for excellent exposure to sunlight during the growing season, maximizing ripening and allowing for the development of rich flavor in the grapes alongside a refreshing acidity from the area’s cool continental climate.
The grapes for this wine are hand-harvested, and fermentations occur spontaneously with indigenous yeasts. It is bottled about 12 months after harvest.