Domaine du GRINGET

One intriguing aspect of the fine wine market is how certain regions and appellations suddenly gain popularity and capture the public’s attention. For instance, the Jura, once overlooked, is now very much in vogue. Similarly, Savoie has recently started to attract significant interest. This shift can be attributed to various factors: evolving tastes and culinary trends, the quest for something new, or perhaps it’s simply a matter of fashion.

Two of the great masters of Savoie, Mathieu Goury of Domaine Chevillard and Dominique Lucas of Les Vignes de Paradis, are at the forefront of this wave of recognition. Another prominent figure in this movement was Dominique Belluard, whose Gringet-based wines attained iconic status and stratospheric prices after his tragic, premature death in 2021. Fortunately for wine aficionados, Domaine Belluard has been resurrected and re-christened Domaine Gringet, thanks to his widow and a brilliant young winemaker, Vincent Ruiz.

Dominique Belluard took over the estate in 1988 and transformed the world’s perception of the Gringet grape. He elevated the notoriously ordinary Gringet from a grape used in cheap, high-volume wines to one capable of producing exceptional wines with a distinct personality and sense of place. Following Dominique’s death, his widow Valérie was determined to perpetuate her husband’s legacy through a grower rather than a brand. To this end, she selected a brilliant young winemaker, 26-year-old Vincent Ruiz, who had worked side by side with Franck Balthazar in Cornas.

In the spring of 2022, Vincent Ruiz relocated to the Arve valley to fully take charge of the estate. The vines Vincent inherited had been worked without chemicals for over twenty years, with Dominique being a precursor of organic viticulture in the Alps. Vincent followed in his predecessor’s footsteps, introducing innovative training and pruning techniques. To avoid soil compaction and restore biodiversity, he abandoned the use of tractors and allowed wild grasses to flourish between the rows. Continuing the work and vision of Dominique Belluard, Vincent has significantly reduced yields and is pursuing official organic certification (it was previously worked biodynamically, although uncertified). There is an emphasis on terroir, including a single-vineyard cuvée from Dominique’s most prized vineyard, Le Feu.

The Domaine has been renamed Domaine Gringet, in recognition of the rare, white Alpine grape native to the Arve Valley in the Haute-Savoie. Only 22 hectares of this grape exist in the world, all around the village of Ayse. Of these, Domaine du Gringet cultivates 10 hectares, along with one hectare each of white Altesse and red Mondeuse.

In the cellar, Vincent favors long pressings in a pneumatic horizontal press, followed by light cold settling for the Gringet and Altesse. For the Mondeuse, Vincent stays true to his northern Rhône origins, processing whole clusters which undergo long macerations with gentle extraction. Fermentation takes place over ambient yeasts concrete or ceramic vessels, and the wines age on fine lees for nine months in concrete eggs and tanks without any racking until bottling. The wines are bottled, unfined and unfiltered, without oxygen exposure and aged for an additional few months before release. The wine remains fully natural with only minimal (less than 16 mg/L) addition of sulfur oxides.

Aubeterre

LOCALITY: FRANCE – Savoie

APPELLATION: Vin de Savoie

GRAPE VARIETY: Altesse

WINEMAKER: Vincent Ruiz

VINEYARD: South facing vineyard planted over marly soil.

VITICULTURE: Biodynamic (not certified). Organic certification in process.

WINEMAKING: Pressed for 4-7 hours, settled for 24 hours. Then fermented over ambient yeasts.

AGING: Aged for 9 months on the lees in concrete eggs (2/3) and stainless steel (1/3). Then bottled and aged for 10 additional months.

BOTTLING: Bottled with no oxygen exposure. 10-20 mg/L total SO2.

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Chez Édouard

LOCALITY: FRANCE – Savoie

APPELLATION: Vin de Savoie

GRAPE VARIETY: Gringet

WINEMAKER: Vincent Ruiz

VINEYARD: At an elevation of 620m, a south-facing vineyard planted in 1914 over limestone-based soil with abundant scree.

VITICULTURE: Biodynamic (not certified). Organic certification in process.

WINEMAKING: Pressed for 4-7 hours, settled for 24 hours. Then fermented over ambient yeasts.

AGING: Aged for 9 months on the lees in sandstone amphoras. Then bottled and aged for 10 additional months.

BOTTLING: Bottled with no oxygen exposure. 10-20 mg/L total SO2.

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La Bergerie

LOCALITY: FRANCE – Savoie

APPELLATION: Vin de Savoie

GRAPE VARIETY: Gringet

WINEMAKER: Vincent Ruiz

VINEYARD: Planted over yellow marly soils. From the lieux-dits Le Pré Milleret and Chez Reydet. South-facing.

VITICULTURE: Biodynamic (not certified). Organic certification in process.

WINEMAKING: Pressed for 4-7 hours, settled for 24 hours. Then fermented over ambient yeasts.

AGING: Aged for 9 months on the lees in concrete eggs (2/3) and stainless steel (1/3). Then bottled and aged for 10 additional months.

BOTTLING: Bottled with no oxygen exposure. 10-20 mg/L total SO2.

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La Paille

LOCALITY: FRANCE – Savoie

APPELLATION: Vin de Savoie

GRAPE VARIETY: Gringet

WINEMAKER: Vincent Ruiz

VINEYARD: Planted in the 1930s over white marl soil. South-facing slope.

VITICULTURE: Biodynamic (not certified). Organic certification in process.

WINEMAKING: Pressed for 4-7 hours, settled for 24 hours. Then fermented over ambient yeasts.

AGING: Aged for 9 months on the lees in concrete eggs. Then bottled and aged for 10 additional months.

BOTTLING: Bottled with no oxygen exposure. 10-20 mg/L total SO2.

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Le Feu

LOCALITY: FRANCE – Savoie

APPELLATION: Vin de Savoie

GRAPE VARIETY: Gringet

WINEMAKER: Vincent Ruiz

VINEYARD: Ferruginous soil comprised of clay over marl. The prize vineyard of Dominique Belluard, on a slope reaching to 440m.

VITICULTURE: Biodynamic (not certified). Organic certification in process.

WINEMAKING: Pressed for 4-7 hours, settled for 24 hours. Then fermented over ambient yeasts.

AGING: Aged for 9 months on the lees in concrete eggs (2/3) and stainless steel (1/3). Then bottled and aged for 10 additional months.

BOTTLING: Bottled with no oxygen exposure. 10-20 mg/L total SO2.

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Vers Etraz

LOCALITY: FRANCE – Savoie

APPELLATION: Vin de Savoie

GRAPE VARIETY: Gringet

WINEMAKER: Vincent Ruiz

VINEYARD: South facing vineyard planted over limestone scree soil.

VITICULTURE: Biodynamic (not certified). Organic certification in process.

WINEMAKING: Pressed for 4-7 hours, settled for 24 hours. Then fermented over ambient yeasts.

AGING: Aged for 9 months on the lees in concrete eggs. Then bottled and aged for 10 additional months.

BOTTLING: Bottled with no oxygen exposure. 10-20 mg/L total SO2.

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