2020 Prieure Saint-Christophe Mondeuse

Savoie is a beautiful, mountainous region in eastern France, abutting northwest Italy. It’s a great place to hike, bike, ski, and drink crisp, alpine white wines… or mondeuse. Mondeuse noire (there is a tiny amount of mondeuse blanche) is either a half-sibling or grandparent of syrah. Jancis Robinson writes in her essential Wine Grapes book, “Mondeuse Noire produces wines that are aromatic, tannic and deeply coloured, with good aging potential and, in the best sites, an Italianate bitter-cherry bite.”

Mondeuse was just another nearly-forgotten local variety until Michel Grisard came on the scene half a century ago with the ambition of turning it into a great wine. First working with his father in the 1970s and then creating Prieuré St. Christophe in 1982, he did just that, earning the moniker “The Pope of Mondeuse” along the way. Grisard retired in 2015, leaving his legacy in the hands of his friends, neighbors, and collaborators, the Giachino family. Soils are clay and limestone with glacial moraine from the Alps. Farming is certified biodynamic.

The grapes ferment spontaneously, macerating for about a month but with light extraction methods. Élevage is for 12 months in barrel. As with most alpine wines, the alcohol level is modest - just 12%. The wine is suave in texture, with blackberry, green peppercorn, alpine blossoms, limestone freshness, the best plum imaginable, and a host of other things. This is the best, most compelling Mondeuse we've ever tasted; the Pope would be proud! Drink it in a Burgundy or other large stem with roasted poultry, peking duck, or a creamy, buttery cheese. It also would be lovely with pork, perhaps roasted with fennel, sunchokes, carrots, and lots of herbs. If you want to wait, the wine will happily age for a decade or more.