Description
Jean-François Quénard, Chignin
One of the many things that make the wines of Savoie so appealing is their “hard won” quality, wrung as they are from steep, rock-strewn slopes in the French Alps. The unforgiving landscape and often high altitudes make for some challenging viticulture—but, then again, vines that struggle often produce the most compelling wines. There’s more than wanderlust at play in the meteoric rise in popularity of Savoie wines, both white and red, and, as this wine demonstrates, they are incredible values as well. This white from the local Jacquère grape, grown in one of the Savoie’s most celebrated villages, captures that ethos perfectly.
Chignin is the name of one of the cru-designated villages in the Combe de Savoie—a broad, glacial valley wherein the southerly exposures of the vineyards help ensure ripeness in an otherwise cool mountain climate. In soils of clay/limestone, sandstone, and quartz, the Quénard family farms 19 hectares of vines that they are in the process of converting to organic agriculture. In addition to the southerly exposures of the vineyards, the intense luminosity at these altitudes also helps in ensuring adequate ripeness of grapes.
Quénard happens to be a common surname around the village of Chignin; this estate, which has a family history dating to 1644, is run by Jean-François Quénard, who took over from his father, Jean-Pierre, in 1987. Jean-François went to wine school in Burgundy, then studied elsewhere in France and abroad. He and his wife, Catherine, grew the domaine to its current size, and are now joined by their daughter, Anne-Sophie, who also studied winemaking in Burgundy.
Carrying the village name Chignin, this wine is crafted from 100% Jacquère grapes from 40+-year-old vines. The variety is known for its high acidity and delicate aromatics, but this expression also has some noteworthy mid-palate texture to complement its racy acidity and wet-stone minerality. Fermentations are carried out using only ambient yeasts in stainless steel tanks, and this cuvée undergoes only partial malolactic fermentation (a process wherein sharper malic acid is converted to softer lactic acid). Aging is in tank and bottle.
Shining a silver-flecked straw-gold in the glass, this is a chalky, lip-smacking white. Aromas of crushed river rock, mountain herbs, lemon blossom, honeysuckle, green peach skin, and dewy wildflowers carry over to the light-bodied palate. It is piquant, electric, and works wonders as an apéritif paired with a mountain cheese like Reblochon—or with a full-on fondue!
