Marc Portaz farms 10 hectares of vines in Apremont, one of Savoie’s designated ‘crus,’ named for the village it surrounds. Located at the base of the 2,300 foot Mont Granier in the Chartreuse Mountains (part of the greater Alps), the east-facing Apremont offers great sun exposure while being sheltered from inclement weather. The massive precipice that towers above Apremont was formed all the way back in 1248 when a titanic limestone mass slid off its marl base and toppled into the fields at the foot of the mountain. Full of glacial moraines—soils that have been deposited by glaciers—and Cretaceous fossils imprinted in limestone, this devastating landslide formed what now is the mineral-rich soil for Apremont (which translates to “bitter mountain,” a reference to the natural tragedy from centuries ago). 

 

After learning the ins and outs of winemaking through his studies in Dijon and internships in California and New Zealand, Portaz returned to the remote Savoie to craft wonderful wines from Jacquère. His small acreage is planted to vines with an average age of 40 years and farmed sustainably without the use of pesticides. The old-vine grapes are always harvested by hand and whole-pressed prior to an indigenous yeast fermentation. The wine then briefly rests on its lees (spent yeast cells left after fermentation) in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks. The result is a mix of lip-smacking freshness, a wonderful cooling sensation, and typically a touch of creaminess, but the warm and sunny 2018 growing season brought an additional layer!

A wine is only as good as the environment it’s consumed in, and in the case of Marc Portaz’s 2018 Apremont, that’s an easy solution: Get yourself outdoors! Drink it while gardening, on the patio with friends, or let it be part of your ‘solo time’ during the day’s waning hours. The wine pours a limpid straw color with brilliant silver-green hues that move out to a watery rim. The nose boasts fascinatingly clean and refreshing aromatics that exist in the form of crisp white pear, citrus blossoms, sliced white peach, lemon verbena, dewy mountain herbs, honeysuckle, and a bushel of cut wildflowers. It’s a creamy yet zippy and thirst-quenching white that envelops your tastebuds with wave after wave of prickly citrus fruits and crushed-stone minerality. Imagine yourself wading through a mountain brook in the heart of Spring—that’s about as close as we can get to evoking taste with a visual. This is usually at its best when consumed young, so drink now and over the next few years (or until the 2019 is released!) in all-purpose white stems around 45 degrees. I recommend a brief 15-minute decant before enjoying and keeping another bottle within striking distance because they go quick! If you’re thinking of pulling a few corks for dinner with friends, try out the attached raclette fondue recipe and let the good times roll during a cool summer evening. Cheers!