Les Vignes de Paradis

With gargantuan mountain peaks and high-altitude pastures, Savoie might be the most spectacular wine region on the planet. But it’s a place better known for winter sports than high quality viticulture, and at first sight the traffic-choked town of Douvaine near Lake Geneva might seem an unlikely source of world class vino.

When Dominique Lucas of Les Vignes de Paradis moved here from Burgundy in the early 2000s, he saw its potential. Through a combination of cutting-edge farming techniques and an experimental approach in the winery, he has created a range of unique wines that are world class.

Working mostly with Chasselas, with smaller amounts of Chardonnay, Altesse and Savagnin, Dominique harvests low yields of late-picked fruit with multiple passes through the vineyards. Inside his winery, an array of different methods and vessels are employed, including ageing under flor, and in a concrete replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza (of course).

In an area known (if it’s known at all) for bland, mass-produced plonk for the après-ski market, this quest for quality is almost unheard of. The results show just how good Alpine wine can be.