WTN: Jean Perrier et Fils Chignin 2006

AC Vin de Savoie.

Our first Savoie wine.

Lovely golden color in the glass.

A rather odd nose that kept changing. At first sniff, light, slightly honeyed, spicy, peppery. With time, all those vanished and were replaced by smoke and salt, with just a hint of sulphur.

Tart lemon and grapefruit, dry, good zingy acidity, fairly round and moderately weighty (despite the dryness and acidity), minerally, very clean and cleansing.

A fairly long, mouthwatering finish.

Matched very well with a super rich macaroni and cheese supper.

Purchased at $14.85 (Canadian).

Not a terrible start to tasting Savoie wines, but not the best either, by a long mark.

Jean Perrier et Fils are négociants (with reasonable vineyard holdings too), based in Apremont, Savoie. The company is the best négociant house in Savoie, but they remain just that, a négociant and quality standards are very variable with variations within even one label/vintage i.e. they do many bottlings (using different grape sources) of the same wine for their larger productions. I know they own some land in Chignin, but they would buy in grapes too, I believe.

The golden colour is particularly odd - are you sure it wasn't Chignin Bergeron? Confusing, I know, but Chignin is from the Jacquère grape and should be a pale colour, with a light and ethereal flavour. The 'moderately weighty' note also suggests Chignin Bergeron - Bergeron is the Savoie synonym for Roussanne, only allowed to be grown in Chignin. The other difference will be alcohol levels. The Chignin would be probably 11% whereas the Chignin Bergeron would be at least 12% maybe 13%.

I have often found excessive sulphur in Jean Perrier wines.

Hope you find some better ones to continue your Savoie education. I'm not absolutely sure what might be available where you are, but if you could find Chignin and indeed Chignin Bergeron from A & M Quenard who do export I think, that would be an excellent start.

Thanks for the insights Wink.

The back label indicated it was made from the Jacquère grape and the alcohol level was 11.5 per cent.