Dominique Belluard ‘Les Alpes’ Blanc 2019
Location: France, Savoie, Ayze
Winemaker: Dominique Belluard
Grapes: Gringet
‘Les Alpes’ is Dom’s still Gringet bottling. Always fresh, aromatic in a very delicate way, and often a wine of texture. From grapes grown at 350 meters.
From the Importer Selection Massale: Dominique Belluard, Dom to his friends, worked his family’s domaine in Ayze since 1988. 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 expanded his family’s plantings through selection massale and spent the past couple decades becoming the master of Gringet and showing the world its potential in Ayze’s terroir.
Ayze is only about 30 miles from Mont Blanc, but the Belluard vineyards are planted relatively lower to allow ripening. Dom cultivated vineyards planted from 300-450 meters above sea level. Make no mistake, these are mountain wines. But they are not planted next to ski slopes. All are farmed biodynamically and were planted by selection massale. The vine ages vary from ten to sixty years old. Domaine Belluard has about half of the Gringet planted in the world.
Prior to Dom rediscovering the variety, Gringet was used almost exclusively for sparkling wine intended for casual chugging. Dom honored that heritage and made two beautiful sparkling Gringets. He also explored the grape’s potential for still wines and found it to be expressive of Ayze’s terroir—and delicious. In addition, Dom made still wines with the two other, more common Savoyard varieties; Altesse (also called Roussette) and Mondeuse. Dom’s cellar practices were as careful and thoughtful as his farming. All fermentations were native and elevage typically occurred in cement or stainless steel. Dom saw great potential in cement eggs for elevage and invested greatly in them, as he thought the movement on the lees suited Gringet particularly well.
Dominique Belluard passed away in 2021.
Location: France, Savoie, Ayze
Winemaker: Dominique Belluard
Grapes: Gringet
‘Les Alpes’ is Dom’s still Gringet bottling. Always fresh, aromatic in a very delicate way, and often a wine of texture. From grapes grown at 350 meters.
From the Importer Selection Massale: Dominique Belluard, Dom to his friends, worked his family’s domaine in Ayze since 1988. 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 expanded his family’s plantings through selection massale and spent the past couple decades becoming the master of Gringet and showing the world its potential in Ayze’s terroir.
Ayze is only about 30 miles from Mont Blanc, but the Belluard vineyards are planted relatively lower to allow ripening. Dom cultivated vineyards planted from 300-450 meters above sea level. Make no mistake, these are mountain wines. But they are not planted next to ski slopes. All are farmed biodynamically and were planted by selection massale. The vine ages vary from ten to sixty years old. Domaine Belluard has about half of the Gringet planted in the world.
Prior to Dom rediscovering the variety, Gringet was used almost exclusively for sparkling wine intended for casual chugging. Dom honored that heritage and made two beautiful sparkling Gringets. He also explored the grape’s potential for still wines and found it to be expressive of Ayze’s terroir—and delicious. In addition, Dom made still wines with the two other, more common Savoyard varieties; Altesse (also called Roussette) and Mondeuse. Dom’s cellar practices were as careful and thoughtful as his farming. All fermentations were native and elevage typically occurred in cement or stainless steel. Dom saw great potential in cement eggs for elevage and invested greatly in them, as he thought the movement on the lees suited Gringet particularly well.
Dominique Belluard passed away in 2021.
Location: France, Savoie, Ayze
Winemaker: Dominique Belluard
Grapes: Gringet
‘Les Alpes’ is Dom’s still Gringet bottling. Always fresh, aromatic in a very delicate way, and often a wine of texture. From grapes grown at 350 meters.
From the Importer Selection Massale: Dominique Belluard, Dom to his friends, worked his family’s domaine in Ayze since 1988. 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 expanded his family’s plantings through selection massale and spent the past couple decades becoming the master of Gringet and showing the world its potential in Ayze’s terroir.
Ayze is only about 30 miles from Mont Blanc, but the Belluard vineyards are planted relatively lower to allow ripening. Dom cultivated vineyards planted from 300-450 meters above sea level. Make no mistake, these are mountain wines. But they are not planted next to ski slopes. All are farmed biodynamically and were planted by selection massale. The vine ages vary from ten to sixty years old. Domaine Belluard has about half of the Gringet planted in the world.
Prior to Dom rediscovering the variety, Gringet was used almost exclusively for sparkling wine intended for casual chugging. Dom honored that heritage and made two beautiful sparkling Gringets. He also explored the grape’s potential for still wines and found it to be expressive of Ayze’s terroir—and delicious. In addition, Dom made still wines with the two other, more common Savoyard varieties; Altesse (also called Roussette) and Mondeuse. Dom’s cellar practices were as careful and thoughtful as his farming. All fermentations were native and elevage typically occurred in cement or stainless steel. Dom saw great potential in cement eggs for elevage and invested greatly in them, as he thought the movement on the lees suited Gringet particularly well.
Dominique Belluard passed away in 2021.