2023 Domaine de Chatillon Gamay Noir
Drive 2 1/2 hours southeast from Beaujolais and you arrive at Savoie ("Sav-wah"), one of France's smallest and least-known appellations. Savoie might be most famous for it's red variety Mondeuse, but here is a benchmark example of Gamay Noir and everything we know it for: juicy, inviting, dark red fruits - plush, spicy backbone - light, talcy tannins - incredible easy drinking.
Domaine de Chatillon ("cha-tee-yon") is owned by Swiss-born investor and wine lover Ed Peter, who is also the owner of famous Australian estates Yarra Yering and Kaesler.
Tucked away on the northern tip of Lac du Bourget, less than an hour south of Geneva (while still in France), Domaine de Chatillon is a small, quality-focussed producer making wines that are both varietal and vividly expressive of their alpine terroir. The wines are dry-grown, hand-harvested, and wild-fermented. Maturation is in stainless steel or concrete to preserve freshness and fruit purity. Minimal sulphites are used.
With less than 1% of France’s total wine production, Savoie (“Sav-wah”) has long flown under the radar, its wines mostly enjoyed by skiers at Chamonix and the locals. Along with its neighbour, the Jura, Savoie is now seeing high demand for its unique, alpine wines that deliver purity, minerality and precision.
Working with indigenous grapes including Jacquère and Mondeuse, alongside Gamay and Pinot Noir - the wines are clean, expressive and mineral, serving as a lucid expression of the region’s unique high-altitude terroir.
