Jean-Yves Peron
SAVOIE
Long under-appreciated, winegrowing in the Savoie region is undergoing something of a renaissance. Jean-Yves Péron is a particularly innovative artisan who is offering a new vision of traditional local grape varieties and their terroirs.
After training with winemakers such as Thierry Allemand (Cornas) and Bruno Schueller (Alsace), Jean-Yves Péron set up his domain in 2004, initially with old vines in Conflans near Albertville, a terroir of micaschists facing south. Then he acquired plots in Fréterive, a clay-limestone terroir a little further downstream in the Isère valley. From the outset, he opted for organic viticulture and whole bunch vinification, using indigenous yeasts and no sulphur, with maceration lasting from 5 days to 2 months, particularly for certain whites. The winery has 3 hectares of vines between 400 and 550 metres above sea level, but from 2011 onwards it will also be buying grapes from winegrowers in the Savoie region to complement and diversify its range, which mainly comprises Jacquère, Altesse and Roussanne for the whites and Mondeuse for the reds. The new cellar built in Conflans in 2017 is larger and more functional, allowing Jean-Yves to buy grapes from neighbouring Piedmont in Italy (vermentino, muscat, barbera, grignolino) for a range called 'I Vicini'. Natural and innovative wines, incomparable in the truest sense of the word!
