DOMAINE DU GRINGET
Ayze
Savoie
Dominique had taken over the estate in 1988, elevating Gringet from a notoriously average sparkling wine to a world-class, age-worthy wine with personality and a sense of place. After his sudden departure, and without an immediate successor to take over, the estate precipitated in a state of emergency while the season was in full swing.
With this in mind, and after having taken the decision to not vinify the 2021 harvest, Valérie Belluard opened up to the idea of a sale in the autumn. Investors began to come knocking, but she was categorical: “even if the Belluard page is turned, the work put in by Dominique must be perpetuated through a grower, rather than a brand.”
Amongst the many young talents to apply, Vincent Ruiz, a 26 year old who had been working side by side with Franck Balthazar in Cornas for over four years, was the one to succeed.
With the arrival of the spring of 2022, and after months of back and forth from Cornas to Ayse, Vincent finally left the Rhône to relocate in the Arve valley and fully take charge of the vegetative cycle. At the same time, the choice of a new name for the domaine is made. Induced by the incredible singularity of the grape variety at the heart of this whole adventure, the decision was somewhat obvious, and so Domaine du Gringet was born.
From day one, Vincent aimed to uphold the estate's historical philosophy of over twenty years of chemical-free farming while implementing innovative techniques, such as delayed pruning to avoid early frosts. In order to avoid soil compaction and restore biodiversity, he decided to abandon the use of tractors and allow wild grasses to roam free between the vineyards.
Additionally, he abandoned the production of sparkling wines, opting for shorter and more severe pruning to achieve the maturity needed for high-quality still whites. These changes significantly impacted yields, which reached only 28hl per hectare in 2022.
Under exhausting heat, Vincent brought his first vintage to fruition with the help of an experienced team, initiating the first cultural changes. The 2022 harvest took place from September 11 to 19, starting with the hillside plots of La Paille and Le Feu and ending with Altesse and Mondeuse. Despite the low yields, the ripeness and quality of the harvest were exceptional.
In the cellar long, slow (7+ hours) press cycles are favoured, each followed by a light cold settling for the whites. Everything is vatted in concrete or ceramic vessels whilst fermenting and aged on fine lees without any racking until bottling. For the reds, Vincent stayed true to his northern Rhône origins, processing whole clusters which undergo long (2-3 weeks) macerations with gentle extraction.
Gringet is a characterful variety that produces small, tightly packed clusters. It is a wild one too, tending to grow in all directions — according to Vincent's words — requiring a lot of care to support its growth. These efforts are, however, rewarded with wines offering refined, elegant, and complex profiles, combining fruity and floral notes with spicy tones and a root-like quality.
Although Ayse is a small appellation (approximately twenty hectares), it boasts an incredible diversity of terroirs, including limestone scree, yellow marl, white marl, and red marl. Fortunately, Gringet is a grape variety that absorbs the specificities of the soil on which it grows.
Ayze, Les Perles du Mont Blanc
Vintage 2019
Style Sparkling
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 12.5%
Soils Yellow marl, white marl
Farming Organic, practicing biodynamic
Winemaking Traditional method Gringet which spends 24 months on fine lees and non-dosé at disgorgement. The grapes come from vines located around the estate, planted on the iconic yellow and white marls.
Tasting Note White pears and fresh cream notes blend in with savoury dried herbs and wet stones. Beautiful freshness and length.
Ayze, Mont Blanc
Vintage 2019
Style Sparkling
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 12.5%
Soils Yellow marl, white marl, limestone
Farming Organic, practicing biodynamic
Winemaking This is essentially the big brother to the estate’s other sparkling, Les Perles du Mont Blanc. For this cuvée Gringet comes from vines planted between 1970s-80s on the limestone scree soils of Vers Etraz. For the base wine the grapes are direct pressed, fermented and aged in a cmbination of stainless steel and concrete ovoid vats. Secondary fermentation takes place in bottles where the wines rests on lees for 36 months. Zero dosage.
Tasting Note
Eponyme
Vintage 2020
Style White
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 12%
Soils Yellow marl, white marl, limestone scree
Farming Organic, practicing biodynamic
Winemaking Eponyme is the hommage cuvée to Dominique Belluard. An assemblage of the lieu-dits Chez Reydet, Pré Milleret and Vers Etraz planted on a mix of yellow and white marl and limestone scree. Direct pressed Gringet feeds into concrete eggs. Raised on fine lees for 18 months un-racked, then blended and bottled by none other than Jean-François Ganevat.
Tasting Note Yellow plums, crunchy apples and white flower notes lend to fresh nutty hints and a mouthwatering acidity.
Monsieur Gringet
Vintage 2020
Style White
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 12%
Soils Yellow marl, limestone scree, red marl, clay
Farming Organic, practicing biodynamic
Winemaking This is the domaine’s Cru equivalent made with grapes from the hillside vineyards planted at older vines. Fruit is sourced for three main sites La Paille (white marls), Chez Eduard (limestone scree) and Le Feu (red marls and iron-rich red clay). Slow direct pressing and vatting in concrete to ferment dry. The wine is aged in egg-shaped concrete vats for 18 months. The label was specifically chosen by Valérie Belluard and designed by celebrated French cartoonist Michel Tolmer.
Tasting Note White pears, spiced lemon and stone fruit notes lend to savoury waxy tones and sesame seed hints. Sizzling alpine acidity matched by a complex concentrated palate.
Ayze, La Bergerie
Vintage 2022
Style White
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 12.5%
Soils Yellow marl, white marl, limestone scree
Farming Organic, regenerative
Winemaking From the south-facing foothill terroirs of Le Pré Milleret and Chez Reydet, this is the only blended cuvée released by the winery in their first vintage. Gentle, slow cycle pressing which lasted seven hours using an horizontal pneumatic
press. Pressing is followed by a 24-hour settling where the must is deliberately allowed to be in contact with oxygen. Spontaneous fermentation in tank and ageing on fine lees in concrete eggs (70%) and
stainless steel (30%) for approximately 9 months. Ageing lasts a further 10 months once in bottle.
Tasting Note Green apple, acacia, rice water, almond tones. Beautiful energy and length. Still a baby with strong sense of direction.
Ayze, Etraz
Vintage 2022
Style White
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 12.5%
Soils Limestone scree, clay
Farming Organic, regenerative
Winemaking As the name suggests, this cuvée is made from Gringet grown exclusively on the limestone scree of Vers Etraz. The souther exposure and fresher calcareous soils make this lieu dit the most Jurassian of their range. Vinification follows the same steps seen for La Bergerie, with fruit being direct pressed, fermented and aged entirely in ovoid concrete vessels. It was from this very vineyard that Dominique Belluard produced his great traditional method sparkling Mont Blanc.
Tasting Note
Ayze, Chez Edouard
Vintage 2022
Style White
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 12.5%
Soils Limestone scree, clay
Farming Organic, regenerative
Winemaking The domaine's oldest vineyard, planted in 1914 just before
Edouard went off to war. Also worth noting this is the highest vineyard in the appellation,
standing at a rather notable altitude of 620m asl. Isolated from the rest of the vineyards, this plot is surrounded by forests and it is a late ripening one. The south facing exposure on the other hand helps with its extensive but slow maturation. It is for this very reason that is always the last plot that gets harvested. Grapes are gently pressed for seven hours and followed by a 24-hour débourbage. Fermentation and ageing take place in a single sandstone jar. A further 10 months ageing takes place in bottle before the wines were released in the Spring of 2024.
Tasting Note
Ayze, La Paille
Vintage 2022
Style White
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 13%
Soils White marl, clay
Farming Organic, regenerative
Winemaking The Gringet here comes from a South facing, sunny and precocious terroir planted at old vines (between 1929 and 1931) on white marls. After a gentle, slow cycle press and 24-hour débourbage, the wine feeds into concrete eggs where it rests until bottling. Once bottled (always unfiltered and unfined) it sees a further 10-month ageing in bottle.
Tasting Note This plot generally produces an aristocratic wine, with a beautiful structure and a powdery texture. Very expressive on both nose and palate with sharp notes of citrus combining with softer candied lemon.
Ayze, Le Feu
Vintage 2022
Style White
Region Ayze
Varieties Gringet
ABV 13%
Soils Red marl, clay
Farming Organic, regenerative
Winemaking If Le Feu is the most celebrated terroir of the appellation, it is thanks to the work of Dominique Belluard, who considered it the prime terroir, the equivalent for Gringet of what Rangen represents for Riesling or Hermitage for Marsanne. Located in the commune of Marignier, Le Feu is a south-facing hillside consisting of marl reddened by the presence of clay rich in iron oxide. While Belluard's Le Feu was a blended cuvée, the domaine has chosen to produce a single-parcel wine from vines planted uniquely on red marl. Their Le Feu is vinified and aged like all other parcellaire wines, the taste differences being only the reflection of distinct terroirs: gentle pressing, fermentation and ageing for 9 months on fine lees in an egg-shaped concrete tanks, bottling without fining or filtration and further ageing for 10 months in glass.
Tasting Note This Gringet is charming and flamboyant. It shines with its texture and notable length on racy and attractive ferruginous bitters.
Roussette de Savoie, Aubeterre
Vintage 2022
Style White
Region Ayze
Varieties Altesse
ABV 12.5%
Soils White marl, clay
Farming Organic, regenerative
Winemaking Located in the commune of Ayse, the Aubeterre lieu-dit is on the same hillside as La Paille. The border between these two terroirs being the Mimonet road, which runs across the slope splitting it into two halves. The vines were planted by Dominique himself in the early 90s on shallow white marl soils. Here Altesse has to work hard to develop a good root system to produce bunches with rather small, yet concentrated grains. Vinification follows the exact same steps seen for the Gringet single-plot cuvées (see above).
Tasting Note Not a wine driven but acidity, but rather by its textural character, depth and salinity.