Michel Quenard and his son Guillaume farm the family’s 22-hectare vineyard in Côteaux du Torméry, on the Alp’s western edge. The vines are planted in limestone scree and the vineyards enjoy the warmth of southern exposure. The team produces Crémant and still wines, including cuvées of Pinot Noir, Gamay, Mondeuse, Altesse, Bergeron (Roussanne), and Jacquère. Farming is sustainable and manual, fermentations are wild, and the wines recieve little or no fining and filtration.
This is a varietal Mondeuse noire, a dark-berried grape that produces wines with with deep color and profound tannins. Inky red, the wine is fragrant of cedar and spiced cherries and its tannins are so sharp they’re nearly brittle. It finishes in a tangy wash of crystalline fruit. Young now, the wine shines with rich foods, but a few years of bottle age will polish its woodsy tannins.
2017 Quenard Mondeuse Vieilles Vignes Chignin Savoie AOP
12% abv | $32; Imported by Kermit Lynch
