Jean-Yves Péron

Conflans - Haute-Savoie

Seeing the steep valleys of the Haute-Savoie, the alps looming in the background, and feeling the mountain freshness in the air it is hard not to marvel that some intrepid vine growers are sticking it out on these slopes.

Jean-Yves, a native of Savoie, is one of these. He studied oenology in Bordeaux and spent a few years working with winemakers around France and beyond. In 2004 he returned to Savoie and started to collect small parcels planted with old vines of local varieties on the mica studded schist soils. The initial plots were scattered around the medieval village of Conflans and totalled around 1.5ha. Shortly after he added a further hectare and a half planted in the commune of Freterive, a little further down the Isere valley on limestone soils.

His 3 hectares of tiny parcels he predominantly vinifies separately - the Jacquere, Altesse, Roussanne and Mondeuse vividly expressing the details of the soil and the coolness of the alpine climate. Jean-Yves chooses to ferment in whole bunches for his white and red grapes but for varying amounts of times. The results are extraordinary.

In 2011 Jean-Yves obtained his negociant license and began working with other growers in the Savoie, notably Raphaël Marin and Adrien Dacquin. Then, in 2017 he built a new cellar just above his and Raphaël's vines in Conflans. With this added space and his love of Italian wines Jean-Yves began a project working with two organic winemakers across the Alps: Paolo Angelino in Casale Monferrato and Giorgio Barbero in Asti. These wines he labels as "I Vicini". Whilst very different to his wines from Savoie, perhaps a little bolder and certainly boozier, they are distinctly Italian but still show a clear continuity with Jean-Yves' Savoie wines.