Wines of the Region

Valmorel is situated in the Northern Alps, in the far east of France and is in the Savoie Department (73). The whole area benefits from the Savoie wine region, which extends from the mountainous areas just south of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) and the border with Switzerland. The region’s location and geography have very much defined its nature; fragmented, hilly and slightly ‘Swiss’. This character is evident in the fresh, crisp white wines made here, and more specifically on wine labels, many of which bear a white cross on a red background – the flag of both Switzerland and Savoie.

The distribution of growing areas for the region’s two main appellations, Bugey and Vin de Savoie, perfectly demonstrates the degree to which the region’s vineyards are fragmented by the mountains terrain. Vin de Savoie wines come from more than seven entirely distinct pockets of vineyards, separated by towns, mountains and lakes, and similarly Bugey.

The core area of the Savoie viticulture area, lies within the triangle formed by Aix-les-Bains in the south, Frangy in the north and the banks of the Rhone river in the west and is home to the Seyssel appellation and a substantial section of the Bugey and Vin de Savoie appellations.

A few miles east of Chambery, the famous villages of Cruet, Arbin, Montmelian, Chignin and Apremont line the banks of the Isere river as it flows east to west from Albertville. Here, on the steep south-facing hillsides of the Combe de Savoie valley, some of Savoie’s finest wines are created.

A final scattering of vineyards is located to the east of Geneva, where about 7 per cent of Savoie wines are made, under the Crepy appellation and four Vin de Savoie crus; Jacquere is the most widely planted variety here, accounting for more than one half of the region’s vines because of its high yield. Altesse, known traditionally here as Roussette, is used to produce some of the region’s finer wines, specifically under its own Roussette de Savoie and Bugey Cerdon appellation.

Mondeuse is the regions premier red grape, producing deeply colored, full bodied, peppery wines, but popular Gamay and Pinot Noir provide a solid drinkable local red and quaffing wines under the Gamay banner, as a varietal wines, lighter in style than their native Beaujolais and Burgundy competitors.

Very little wine makes it out of France and on to international markets and most Savoie wine enthusiasts are the locals themselves, and those who discovered the region’s secrets while on holiday.