At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Savoie
- Main grape
- Gringet
- Still white
- Ayze La Bergerie
- Sparkling wine
- Mont Blanc Brut Nature 2019
- Defining practice
- Shorter, more severe pruning for still whites
The Producer
Vincent Ruiz moved Domaine du Gringet away from sparkling production and towards still whites. He chose shorter, more severe pruning to reach the maturity needed for those wines. Gringet produces wines with fruity and floral notes, spicy tones and a root character.
In the cellar, long, slow press cycles last more than seven hours, followed by light cold settling for whites. Fermentation takes place in concrete or ceramic vessels, and the wines age on fine lees without racking until bottling. Fine lees are spent yeast particles, and contact with them can build texture.
Place
Domaine du Gringet works in Savoie. Ayze La Bergerie carries the Vin de Savoie appellation as a still white. An appellation is a regulated place name on the label, and here it accompanies a wine made from a blend of terroirs.
Wines
The range includes sparkling wine and still whites. La Bergerie is a still white blending terroirs. Le Feu is a single vineyard still wine from red marl soils. Mont Blanc Brut Nature 2019 is a sparkling wine.
The still wines move from a blend of terroirs to a single vineyard bottle. The change in scale is printed in the wine names and vineyard descriptions, while the sparkling bottle keeps a separate place in the range.
In The Glass
La Bergerie shows fine texture and chalk minerality. Pear, melon and mandarin fruit carry saline mineral freshness, with chalk and liquorice notes at the finish.
Le Feu brings depth through the middle of the palate, then ends fresh and long with saltiness at the close. Its red marl origin accompanies a wine with a broad centre and a firm, refreshing finish.
Final Word
Domaine du Gringet works Gringet in sparkling wine and still whites, with La Bergerie as a terroir blend and Le Feu as a red marl single vineyard. Concrete or ceramic fermentation and fine lees ageing complete the cellar method.