Domaine Belema - 'y'en a!' - Jacquere - Savoie, FR - 2023

Satellite's Hot Take

This wine is a perfect example of why Savoie is amongst the most tragically under-appreciated wine regions in France - remarkable wine cut from glacier and granite mountain. Subtle and refreshing, long and layered - marked by tension and surprising structure that continues to captivate. I LIKE IT!

Notes from the Winery/Importer

Savoie, France. 100% Jacquère, direct pressed and fermented in stainless steel. Aged 10 months on the lees in sandstone amphora. Unfined, unfiltered, with a modest addition of SO2.

Notes on the Producer

High in the French Alps, roughly halfway between Geneva airport and the famed slopes of Chamonix, sits the quiet village of Ayse. On a clear day, the snowcapped summit of Mont Blanc is visible in the distance; closer in, the village nestles at the foot of Mont Môle, whose lower slopes are draped in the vines of this hamlet's signature grape: Gringet. This is the ground where Dominique Belluard rescued an obscure variety from near-extinction and placed it firmly on the world wine map. Few grapes communicate their home terroir as purely as Gringet does Ayse — and no one has drawn out its greatest expression more completely than Belluard, from old-vine fruit painstakingly cultivated through biodynamic methods on the vertiginous hillsides of the upper Arve River Valley, the stretch broadly known as the Haut-Savoie. Belluard's mentee, now crafting his own expressions from young Gringet vines just five years old, is Yann Pernuit — already known in regional and natural wine circles for his careful work at Château de Mérande in Arbin, roughly an hour south into Savoie proper. Over the preceding fifteen years, Yann had built a reputation as one of the most skilled practitioners and advocates of biodynamic viticulture in the demanding terrain of the Savoie, sought out by the Genoux brothers of Château de Mérande to lead their conversion to that approach. Around 2018, Yann made his move north to work alongside the legendary Belluard, who became both mentor and friend. With Belluard's encouragement, Yann established Domaine Belema as a négoce, sourcing organically farmed fruit from the surrounding area while simultaneously planting a small 1.5-hectare parcel in Ayse to true Alpine varieties: Mondeuse, Jacquère, Étraire de la Dhuy, and of course Gringet. The path has not been without difficulty, but the domaine is now fully operational. This latest release marks the second commercial vintage from his own vines — and the first from his baby Gringet worthy of the name. For further measure, the wines had already drawn attention well before release. Writing in her 2019 book Wines of the French Alps, perhaps the world's foremost authority on Alpine wine, Wink Lorch, singled out Domaine Belema as one of the names to watch for in the years ahead. Those years have now passed — and the wines have more than made good on the promise.