In the Bugey region, these vineyards on the once deserted vineyard slopes of Argis are being maintained and replanted by organic vigneron Luc Bauer of Les Grangeons de l’Albarine.
THE FUTURE FOR FRENCH ALPINE WINES AND THEIR PRODUCERS
As the second decade of the 21st century draws to a close, the stars are aligning for those who make wines in the foothills of the French Alps, even if shadows also lurk behind those crystalline skies. Wines from these steep hillsides promise so much. Many of these wines are born of unusual grapes and their light and fresh profile is in tune with the changing tastes of many consumers. They offer a sense of place that anyone can relate to who has visited or admired photographs of the gorgeous French Alps. Exports are inching up and the word is spreading that there are new wine regions to discover here.
These once-isolated mountain wine areas have progressed in quality no end, but it has taken time for them to believe in themselves. Recently, vignerons have begun to work together, especially through a burgeoning interest in rare grapes, but also through the French fascination for preserving la patrimoine or heritage – specifically, historical vineyard areas. A real cause for optimism is the increase in young vignerons choosing to work in the sometimes tough conditions of the French Alpine terroir, often organically. French Alps wines are poised to claim an important niche in the esoteric wine world.
The challenges for the future
In many key Savoie areas, and in the tiny Isère wine areas too, finding vineyards to lease or buy for newcomers is particularly hard, due to the pressure of housing and, in Savoie, the acquisition power of the major négociants. This is worrying as vignerons require an optimum area of vineyards in order to make a living. Finding people willing to work in steep vineyards is increasingly difficult and production costs go skywards. Striving for lower yields to give better quality means higher sales prices are needed – yet many producers fear losing their traditional customers if they raise prices by more than a small amount each year. Traditional markets are changing – the once popular Clairette de Die is often seen in France as yesterday’s choice, and the ski industry is no longer a reliable source of ‘white gold’.
While climate change offers many potential benefits for French Alps wine regions, it carries huge risks, with increasingly unpredictable weather, more frequent severe spring frosts and localized hail. As I write, the 2019 vintage has been badly hit in Savoie by a massive hailstorm in June. Many vignerons feel helpless in the face of these challenges and it sometimes seems that the official regional organizations which represent them are stuck in the 20th century.
Protecting or promoting?
The vast majority of the wonderful wines of Savoie and Bugey discussed in this book are in the AOC category, which has helped raise the profile of both regions. The AOC designation is defended staunchly and only wines from these categories may bear the name of the region on their labels. But this means that many wines that don’t meet AOC requirements are labelled simply Vin de France, without being able to proclaim their proud origins – these include wines from rehabilitated local grape varieties, from revived vineyard slopes, or indeed those made in a natural way. I am not against protecting the concept of terroir but the priorities of those who defend the AOCs so fiercely are increasingly out of tune with consumers’ interests. Discussing at length how to instigate a premier or grand cru system, to add to the complexities of the Savoie AOC, for example, or fighting Clairette de Die rosé as Bugey has done, do not improve the overall image of the regions.
Producers who make IGP and Vin de France wines, often working with lower yields and greater respect for the environment, are effectively promoting their regions even without the name on their labels. It is in the quest to preserve history and to create wine areas fit for the future that the isolated vignerons of Isère and Hautes-Alpes, both working under the more flexible IGP designations, show signs of flourishing in the next decade. Restaurateurs and wine shops in France and abroad may care little about AOC – they list these wines because they are high quality and they cite the region on their lists anyway.
The biggest positive in Savoie, Bugey and beyond is the creation of new wine estates, many organically certified, and these estates are more frequently working together to exchange ideas and indeed to promote their wines. The Pétavins group was the first non-official producer group to run trade tastings, mainly in Paris, but the original group has been slow to welcome newcomers. In May 2019 the first edition of a new trade tasting, named Jour Fruit, was held in the Savoie vineyards. Organized by an independent sommelier, it featured more than a dozen vignerons, not all of them young or organic, but all keen to share their top-quality wines. This was a welcome change from the ongoing friction between organic and non-organic factions, and I truly hope this rancour will disappear with younger generations taking over.
Sylvain Liotard of Domaine des 13 Lunes names his cuvée Ami-Amis to reflect both the grape blend in the wine and the friends who helped produce it.
The price of protecting the environment
Undoubtedly it is extremely hard to manage vineyards in these mountain areas, especially for those who work organically. On the rise are sustainability initiatives, such as the HVE certification, which covers more than just the vineyards. But HVE has little consumer recognition and is unlikely to achieve greater returns for its practitioners unless it becomes a stepping stone towards organic farming. Growing numbers of vignerons have proved that it is possible to work organically and receive a sufficient financial return, selling more to export markets too. But the question of setting the right sales price for the quality of wines offered is something the vignerons of these areas need to work on. I know several excellent vignerons who I believe should increase their prices and use the money to invest; on the other hand I know too many young, organic vignerons who priced their wines over-ambitiously from their very first vintage and will need to take care that they can maintain customer loyalty at those prices.
Marketing the mountains
For these regions to flourish, vignerons need to work closely together. I would love to see more co-operation between the different French Alps wine regions. Vins des Coteaux Alpins (‘wines from Alpine slopes’) is a perfect name for a group of three IGP areas, but aside from a rarely updated website, it has been little publicized. My Utopian view would be a marketing group covering all the French Alps AOC, IGP and Vin de France producers and such a banner would also be ideal for creating focused wine tourism opportunities, especially those aimed at foreigners. Producers need to remember that today it is not the plaudits from journalists or competition medals that necessarily sell wines, but consumers discovering the wines for themselves and spreading the word, for example via social media. The people who put their hands in their wallets to pay more for the costs of hand-weeding a steep mountain vineyard are those who will share their enthusiasm for these exciting and unusual wines.
The future is in the hands of the inheritors of these lands and grapes, whether they are the successors to the hard-working vignerons of centuries gone by, or the newcomers who have decided to adopt these mountain vineyards as their own.