Savoie

The specification says vine growing is attested in Gallo-Roman times by Columella and Pliny the Elder, and that travellers and officials describe vineyards in the valleys from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. The Sardinian cadastre drawn up in Savoie from 1728 under King Victor Amadeus II recorded who owned the vineyards and what they were worth, and A. Costa de Beauregard described local viticulture in an essay of 1774. The vineyard peaked in 1884 at 21,143 ha and 504,943 hl before phylloxera almost destroyed it. Sparkling wines appeared from the late nineteenth century, once wine was bottled. After the Second World War growers formed syndicates, in 1945 a federation of the "Savoie-Lyonnais" VDQS, and cooperatives at Montmélian, Cruet and Chautagne. The AOC was recognised by decree on 4 September 1973; Crémant de Savoie followed in 2015.

The vineyard runs in an arc along the Alpine foothills from Thonon-les-Bains past Frangy, the Lac du Bourget and the south of Chambéry into the Combe de Savoie. Glaciers shaped the relief and left moraines; the bared slopes are still eroded by rockfall, slides and torrents. The specification places the vineyards on mostly recent formations: sandy-gravel river alluvium at Ripaille and Marin, old moraines at Marignan, Crépy, Chautagne and Seyssel, post-glacial scree at Chignin and in the Combe de Savoie, Tertiary molasse at Frangy, and at Abymes the debris of the collapse of Mont Granier in 1248. Older Upper Jurassic marls and limestones show at Arbin and Jongieux. The climate has oceanic tendencies, with continental and southern influences, more than 1,000 mm of rain and about 1,600 hours of sun, with a warm late season. Vines face south, south-east or west at 250–500 m, in islands among many local climates.

The specification describes whites that are pale to golden, fine and fresh, often slightly sparkling when young after keeping on fine lees, with floral and fruity aromas. Jacquère gives white flowers, grapefruit and peach with a light bitterness; Altesse is fuller, with honey, spice and sweet almond. Reds are ruby or deeper, with red or black fruit and sometimes spice or pepper; Mondeuse is structured, tannic and lively. It links the minerality of Apremont to its limestone. Growers placed each grape where it suits local conditions: Chasselas by Lake Geneva, Gringet in the Arve valley, Jacquère in the cluse of Chambéry, Roussanne at Chignin, Mondeuse in the Combe de Savoie and Gamay in Chautagne.

Vin de Savoie, or Savoie, covers still white, red and rosé wine, rosé sparkling wine and white Crémant. Principal red grapes are Gamay, Mondeuse and Pinot Noir, with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet-Sauvignon and Persan in the Savoie department. Principal white grapes are Aligoté, Altesse, Chardonnay, Jacquère, Mondeuse Blanche and Velteliner Rouge Précoce, with Chasselas and Gringet in Haute-Savoie. A single grape may be named on the label if the wine is made only from it. Sixteen local names may be added, among them Abymes, Apremont, Chignin, Chignin-Bergeron (from Roussanne, here called Bergeron), Crépy and Jongieux. Roussette de Savoie and Seyssel are separate appellations. In 2009 the AOC produced 110,000 hl, including 500,000 bottles of sparkling wine.