Dominique Belluard Les Grandes Jorasses 2020

Dominique Belluard Les Grandes Jorasses 2020

Dominique Belluard
$64.00

Grape: Altesse
Vintage: 2020
Type: White

This white wine is made from one-hundred percent altesse grapes grown on a south-facing slope of clay and limestone soils in Savoie. Harvested by hand from ten-year-old vines, the fruit carries an optimal balance of ripeness and natural structural acidity. The late Dominique Belluard guided a slow, four-month primary fermentation using only native wild yeasts in neutral concrete vessels. It undergoes a completely spontaneous malolactic conversion and matures on its fine fermentation lees before bottling.

It displays a bright straw-yellow color, releasing clean aromas of fresh citrus, white peach, and wild mountain herbs skin over a stony mineral baseline. A medium-bodied frame balances stone fruit flavors with a sharp beam of alpine acidity. The mouthfeel is broad and texturally complex, showing a subtle waxy texture from the native fermentation. A strong vein of marine salinity cuts right through the center, keeping the profile fresh. It finishes long, dry, and clean.

Dominique Belluard, Dom to his friends, worked his family’s domaine in Ayse from 1988 until his death in 2021.

When Dom took over, the domaine was in polyculture, with dairy cows, apples, and other crops in addition to grapes.  Dom was very much a farmer, but he wanted to focus his energies on being a vigneron, so he increased the vineyard plantings.  He was particularly drawn to Gringet, a white variety found only in Ayse that was nearly extinct.  A few local growers sold grapes to the co-op for sparkling wine, but there were no efforts to make fine wine or vins de garde from Gringet.   Dom become the master of Gringet showing the world its potential in Ayze’s terroir.

Ayze is a Cru of the Vin de Savoie appellation that covers the mountainous landscape south of Lake Geneva in far-eastern France.

Ayze is only about 30 miles from Mont Blanc, but the Belluard vineyards are planted relatively lower to allow ripening. Make no mistake, these are mountain wines.  All are farmed biodynamically and were planted by selection massale.

Domaine Belluard had about half of the Gringet planted in the world. The varietal was almost extinct outside of his family's land.

Dom’s cellar practices were as careful and thoughtful as his farming.  All fermentations are native and elevage typically occurs in cement eggs or stainless steel.