Wine

Wine Savvy Savagnin

A few small parcels of vines to the west of the Swiss border and Lake Geneva are tended by Henri Le Roy, the local Savagnin grape producing utterly distinctive whites. I read that Henri ‘abhors’ oxidation in the cellar, making his wines quite different to the ‘Vin Jaune’ wines which the region is famous for. This bristles with lip-smacking acidity and a mineral thrust that somehow conveys the sense of the soils formed in the Jurassic era, chock-full of sea shells and ancient rock formations – ‘saline tang’ sums it up. Enjoyed during a jolly gathering of winemakers at St John at their annual ‘Vignerons’ Lunch’, with rabbit and prunes: cosseting creamy mash completed the scene.