Whenever I drink a good wine from France’s Savoie region, I’m transported instantly to a mountain meadow strewn with wildflowers and criss-crossed by streams. If you’ve ever hiked or skied in places like Chamonix or Val d’Isère, this wine will speak to you—it is the ultimate ‘mountain’ white, sourced from some of the highest-elevation vineyards in the world, and it is far more than just a refreshing rinse after a morning on the slopes.
Driven by Savoie’s native Jacquère grape blended with Chardonnay, this is a white with all the structure and mineral grip of a good white Burgundy, with floral aromatics that take you to that mountain meadow. Plus, it’s from 2015, a vintage where even the coolest, most remote regions produced wines of exceptional depth. Whether you’re new to Savoie whites or an old hand, Domaine des Ardoisières elevates the game—this is a clean, precise, electrifying white that channels both Chablis and the Loire Valley en route to its own unique destination. It is also a popular wine with sommeliers (with a cult-like following in France and around the globe), so I urge you to check it out before it disappears into restaurant cellars; we have secured a generous allocation (after many requests over the last year) and can offer 6 bottles per customer until it sells out.
The first thing we need to do is decode this wine’s crowded label, which is a Google search waiting to happen: It should be fairly clear that ‘Domaine des Ardoisières’ is the producer’s name, but then things get interesting. This bottling is labeled with the ‘IGP’ (Indication Géographique Protégée) ‘Vin des Allobroges,’ referring to the Allobroges area of the Savoie—where France, Italy, and Switzerland meet (an IGP is less prescribed than an AOC designation, focused just on the geographic origins of the grapes). You’ll also see ‘St. Pierre de Soucy’ and ‘Villard d’Héry’ on this label: These are two neighboring villages in which Domaine des Ardoisières has planted vines, and here their mention functions as a vineyard designation. The domaine’s vineyards in these villages are clay-based marls mixed with schist, a different composition from some of their other holdings, a fact which is also acknowledged on this bottle via the name “Argile Blanc” (argile being the French word for clay).
Domaine des Ardoisières was founded in the late-1990s by a group of partners who painstakingly cleared, repaired, and re-planted a series of terraces that had held vines back in Roman times. Farming organically (and incorporating biodynamic treatments as well), the partners brought in winemaker Brice Omont in 2005. A native of Champagne, Omont has turned the domaine into a hot commodity in a short time, producing five different cuvées (three white, two red) from native Savoie varieties. They’ve only been imported to the US for a few years now, but they’ve caught on quickly, to say the least.
The 2015 “Argile Blanc” is a blend of 40% Jacquère, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Mondeuse Blanche fermented in a mix of stainless steel tanks (two-thirds) and used French oak
barriques (one-third). It was aged in used barrels for about 9 months before bottling. In the glass it is a pale straw-gold with green and silver reflections at the rim. The aromas are a beguiling mix of yellow apple, white peach, acacia flowers, mushrooms, and a smoky, stony note reminiscent of Loire Valley
silex (flint). On the palate the wine is textured, creamy even, but at the same time resolutely mineral and saline. There are certainly some
Chablisienne characteristics here, with the Jacquère lending a floral component. It’s impossible not to employ the ‘mountain runoff” analogy here: it’s a crystal clear, pure, refreshing wine that was very clearly sprung from stone. I think it will improve for several years to come, peaking around 2020; if you’re drinking it now, it needs only a quick 30-minute decant before serving around 50 degrees in Burgundy stems. Given its place of origin, I’m going to suggest pairing this with some classic cheese fondue, for which its acid/mineral “cut” is perfectly suited. It would be amazing with charcuterie, too. And brightly dressed salads. I could keep going…but I’ll leave it to you. Enjoy!
