What’s New in Orange Wine? Introducing Jean-Yves Peron…

6/5/11 -

(Many thanks to Bert of Wine Terroirs for the use of his picture)

Entering the Haute-Savoie raises the incredulous rhetorical question: “they actually make wine here?” Unlike its northern neighbor, Jura, in which landscape and road signs are a constant reminder of the region’s illustrious if not terribly well-known history of winemaking, Haute-Savoie appears to have, if anything, a rich history of ski resorts and lakeside summer domiciles. With its air of wealth and perpetual leisure mingling with the constant rocky outline of the Alps, the Haute-Savoie presents itself as a region better suited to parachuting and skiing than to vine growing… Nonetheless, here we find a small slue of fun local varieties: spicy Mondeuse for the reds, crisp Jacquere and Chasselas, richer and more honeyed Altesse and Roussane for the whites. (Forget not that the Rhône begins at the nearby Lake Geneva.) With a few notable exceptions, much of the wine made in the Haute-Savoie is simple, co-op produced, and consumed locally by thirsty vacationers. Who knew that an intrepid natural winemaker by the name of Jean-Yves Peron could be found nestled in the Alpine town of Chevaline in the Haute-Savoie?

Jean-Yves’ is a familiar narrative: a native of the Haute-Savoie, he attended university in oenology and biochemistry at Bordeaux before taking up winemaking. He encountered his first wine made with out sulfur- a Pinot Gris- while working at Willakenzie in Oregon. He returned to his family home in Chevaline, a large farmhouse with a cheese room and adjacent pastures with their contended cows, in the early 2000s; his first vintage was 2004. His vines are a few kilometers from Chevaline near the town of Albertville and rest at 400-500 meters. Jean-Yves’ wines have a very particular character. All undergo some carbonic maceration and a regime of pigeage and skin maceration. "Pigeage" is the term for punching down the cap of grape skins that forms on top of the wine during fermentation, a process that imparts color and tannins to the wine. All the wines are aged in Bordeaux barrels, generally six months for the whites and a year or more for the reds (all 100% Mondeuse). Jean-Yves likes the effect of oxygen on his wines. The round, slightly oxidative nature of the whites makes an interesting counterpoint to their high acidity. Jean-Yves generally bottles without any sulfur, and has been known to bottle the whites before all the deposits have settled to the bottom of the barrel. This may sound like a recipe for unclean natural wine, but Jean-Yves is incredibly meticulous and conscientious in the cellar, vapor-cleaning his barrels and getting rid of any that seem to produce off aromas or flavors. In two comprehensive tastings with him, there was not a whiff of dirty barrel and not a mouse-y finish to be found, merely pure and utterly unique, chemical-free wine.… Enjoy! -msb