An alpine red wine from Haute-Savoie that combines dark fruit with cool freshness and fine spice. From steep slopes near Frangy and Poisy, it reveals the distinctive side of the Mondeuse Noire grape variety.
Bottler: Domaine des Orchis,67, rue de la Fontaine, 68340 Zellenberg / France
In the glass
Colour
Deep yet slightly transparent purple.
Nose
Elderberries and blackberries with a subtle sweetness, accompanied by graphite, ink, cinnamon, marzipan and a hint of warm forest floor.
Palate
Blackberries, crisp plums and cherries meet bitter almond, citrus zest, blood orange juice, bresaola and pepper; polished tannins and firm, precise acidity.
Character
A tension between concentration and transparency, darkness and clarity – dense and spicy yet lifted by alpine freshness, reminiscent of a high-altitude Syrah.
Pairing
Seared tuna with Provençal herbs, slow-cooked Bœuf Bourguignon or a classic raclette.
Notes
Six months of skin contact lend depth without overwhelming the alpine freshness; aged over two winters in older casks and bottled unfiltered. Spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts and minimal sulphur addition define the purist style of Philippe Héritier, who tends his vines using biodynamic preparations and herbal teas.
Tasting note
Colour & Appearance
Deep, almost impenetrable purple — and yet: light shines through. A visual foretaste of what Savoy red wine rarely achieves: density without heaviness.
Nose
Dark-fruited yet transparent, as if the concentration were merely a play of light. Elderberries and blackberries, a subtle sweetness, accompanied by graphite, ink, cinnamon and marzipan — and beneath it all, the scent of warm forest floor, as though the wine still carried the steep slopes of Poisy in its nose.
Palate
Here begins the true surprise. The wine feels like a high-altitude Syrah: blackberries and crisp plums, cherries and bitter almond, along with blood orange zest, a hint of Bresaola and pepper. The tannins are polished, the acidity carries the force of a mountain stream — clear, unwavering, showing no mercy to dullness.
Finish
Long and cool, with a mineral aftertaste that evokes rock rather than residual fruit — six months of skin contact and two winters in older wood speak here not of oak, but of depth.
Terroir & Origin
Three vineyards between 350 and 450 metres, spread across Desingy, Collonges and Peillonnex above Frangy. Calcareous clay, glacial debris and bedrock — morainic stone once shaped by Mont Blanc, now lending temperament to the roots of Mondeuse. Philippe Héritier cleared abandoned steep slopes in 2006, following a career as a bank manager. With views of the nearby Mont Blanc and yields of just 25 hl/ha, a wine is born here that harnesses austerity rather than lamenting it.
Grape Variety & Vinification
Mondeuse Noire, the autochthonous grape of the Alps, grown in Savoy for centuries and still wrongly dismissed as rustic. Héritier destems 90 per cent to avoid astringency, and allows the wine to mature over two winters in older casks. It is bottled unfiltered — at 11.5% ABV and vinified dry, it stands as proof that alpine freshness must not be mistaken for Burgundian restraint.
Food Pairings
Its versatility is almost audacious: seared tuna with Provençal herbs — the acidity cuts through the fish’s oil. Slow-braised Bœuf Bourguignon — the pepper and Bresaola notes in the wine echo the braising juices. And, of course, Raclette, the region’s classic, whose richness is tamed by this alpine clarity.
Special Features
It is the tension between concentration and transparency, darkness and clarity, that lifts this wine above the Savoyard crowd. Add to that the unassuming manner with which Héritier also raises 300,000 snails on the side and has won starred chefs such as Marc Veyrat and Jean Sulpice as customers — quality that need not be loud to be heard.
