Wink Lorch is not one to skip her homework in favor of fanciful tales. It is this dedication to truth and discovery that made her first book, Jura Wine, so compelling and a necessity for anyone interested in the wines of that region. It is with this same conviction and desire for fact over fantasy that she now turns her attention to neighboring areas in her upcoming second book, Wines of the French Alps: Savoie, Bugey and beyond.
“So, now while writing Wines of the French Alps I’m digging deep into Savoie lore, law and labels… And the story of the history of the Altesse grape variety is driving me to distraction. Especially as I’m planning a trip this coming week, mainly to visit the vignerons of Jongieux, the location of the vineyard slope named Marestel, the most famous of the four Roussette de Savoie crus. (Oh, whoops! ‘Cru’, there’s another can of worms, a term no longer allowed here, it seems.) It is around Jongieux that Altesse may well have originated… or it may not have.”
With producers in our portfolio like Domaine des Ardoisieres and Jacques Maillet who produce wines with the Altesse grape, we found Wink’s feature (which is an excerpt from her upcoming book) to be both fascinating and informational.
Click here to go to Wink’s website and read about Altesse and discover its true origin.
