Chasselas 'A morning facing the lake', Les Vignes de Paradis, Savoie

Chasselas ‘Un matin face au lac’, Les Vignes de Paradis, Savoie. This is by far the best Chasselas in France. Tense, pure, finesse, mineral, long. Razor-fine acidity and bitters. Offers a great deal of drinking pleasure. Alpine freshness from the Haute-Savoie, like a perfect morning overlooking Lake Geneva. Enjoy!

• Serve at: 12 °C
• Drink: now until 2030+

Chasselas, is it any good?

You will mainly find Chasselas in Alsace, Baden (as Gutedel), and Switzerland (as Fendant). It normally produces neutral wines. But, as you also see with Macabeo and Trebbiano, in the right hands, Chasselas produces stunningly beautiful wine. The appellation within the Savoie is called IGP Vin des Allobroges. Now you know!

Les Vignes de Paradis

Winemaker Dominique Lucas of Les Vignes de Paradis — nomen est omen — farms his 12 hectares of west-facing, cooler vineyards biodynamically. The poor soil of glacial moraines (moraine, granite) with plenty of calcareous sandstone makes for wonderful fruit.

Perfectly ripe grapes

The grapes are harvested in stages (tries), each at perfect ripeness. This white wine from vineyards near Crèpy also comes from the best, oldest vines with low yields. The juice ferments and matures for 6 months in egg-shaped concrete vats. You see these concrete cuves more and more these days; they allow for some air circulation, impart no flavor (unlike wood), and the shape is said to create an internal fluid dynamic that produces finer wine. Duly noted.

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