Quenard Chignin Vin de Savoie

[John Treder]

The price was good and Beltramo's is a good store, and I had no idea what it was, so I bought a bottle.
I couldn't find anything in my old Parker that resembled this label.
The full producer's name is Jean-Pierre et Jean-Francois Quenard.

Mild, lightly lemony, probably chenin blanc but with something else maybe marsanneish or roussanneish in it, a good aperitif. Very good value.

We had this as a preprandial quaff on July 5, before grilled tri-tip. We had a great Petite Sirah with the tri-tip, but the white wine people enjoyed it with the beef, too. Only $11.99, and 11.5% alcohol.

John

[Wink Lorch]

Chignin has been written about a few times on the forum.

It's made from the Jacquère grape, which is not related to anything else and only grows in Savoie.

JP and JF Quenard are one of no less than 8-10 producers with the last name Quenard in the village of Chignin, one of Savoie's crus very close to the city of Chambéry. About 4 have been imported at some time into the USA.

You didn't mention the vintage but am presuming probably 2007 - JP & JF Quenard's wines are brought into the USA by Charles Neal.

The lemony description is good and it's great as an aperitif as you said and good value.

Be careful not to mix up Chignin with Chignin Bergeron, which is made from 100% Roussanne (whose synonym in Chignin/Savoie is Bergeron).

Wink

[Carl Eppig]

Thanks Wink; great information. Now if we could only find it!

[John Treder]

Thanks, Wink. Yes, 2007. Neat, another new grape!

John

[TomHill]

Yup....the Quenard Chignin is pretty much as you describe. Interesting apertif type wine. Lots of minerality.
He also makes a Mondeuse that is the 3'rd best in the world (the Carlisle and the CortiBros a bit better) and a
very good example of what Mondeuse is like.
Lots of interesting wines come from Savoie, but you have to think outside the box a bit when you try them.
The Savoie is the birthplace, for some reason, of many of the world's great vinifera varieties. Syrah (not that I'd know
anything about Syrah) came down to the Rhone from there, a cross between Deureza (now virtually extinct...probably rightfully so)
and MondeuseBlanche. The Savoie was a real hotbed for incest in its day.
Tom

[Wink Lorch]

Hello Tom

I haven't been here for a long time, but I was obviously subscribed to this post.

There are no less than 10 Quenard families bottling/labelling their own different wine in the tiny village of Chignin. At least 3 are exported occasionally to the USA.
André et Michel Quenard (who arguably makes the best Mondeuse of the Quenards)
Jean-Pierre & Jean Francois Quenard (whose Chignin blanc was talked about in this post)
Pascal & Annick Quenard (he is son of Raymond Quenard who still bottles a little under his own name).

I wouldn't say any of the Quenards produce the 3rd best Mondeuse in the world, because they don't produce the 3rd best Mondeuse in Savoie! I don't know the Mondeuse from California or elsewhere well, though a) there is only a tiny amount and b) I am not convinced it is the same as it reaches such higher alcohol levels that cannot be explained by climate alone.
Some of the better Mondeuse from Savoie include:
Domaine Prieuré St-Christophe (Michel Grisard)
Louis Magnin
Domaine Trosset
Domaine St-Germain (cuvée Pied de la Barme)
Gilles Berlioz

You are, however, complete right about the hotbed of grape incest being in the Savoie - Mondeuse (Noire) was recently 'proved' to be either a grandparent or the grandchild of Syrah!

[Stanislav Rudy]

Hello Wink,

As an addition to your Mondeuse list, I recently opened the bottle of 2008, Mondeuse, Cuvée Prestige et Tradition from Jean-Pierre & Philippe Grisard that I brougt from my visit at the Grisards in 2009 - really wonderfull wine !
Another good producer to be mentioned - Domaine Dupasquier "Aimavigne", still unopened two bottles of 2000, Mondeuse, that I found worth to be bougt inspite the older vintage.

Stanislav from Slovakia

[Wink Lorch]

HI Stanislav

Yes J-P and Ph Grisard have been getting better and better (they are Michel's brothers) and with Mondeuse in particular. Unfortunately there has been another split in the family and now Jean-Pierre is on his own with Domaine Grisard. I have yet to see how Philippe Grisard is getting on with his new domaine in the village of Cruet.

Talking of Cruet, another good modestly-priced Mondeuse producer to look out for in that village (not far from the famous Arbin cru) is Domaine L'Idylle owned by François and Philippe Tiollier.

Anything Dupasquier turns his hand to is like gold, really, especially if you age it! But I didn't mention them, because they are best known for their superb whites - especially Marestel Roussette de Savoie. And the Mondeuse from the Jongieux area - even Dupasquier's which is aged in foudres - is somewhat lighter than those from Arbin and the rest of the Combe de Savoie district between Chignin (near Chambéry) and Fréterive (towards Albertville).

Good to find another Mondeuse/Savoie fan.

[Keith M]

And the Mondeuse from the Jongieux area - even Dupasquier's which is aged in foudres - is somewhat lighter than those from Arbin and the rest of the Combe de Savoie district between Chignin (near Chambéry) and Fréterive (towards Albertville).

How do the mondeuse of Bugey compare to those of Savoie? I have found Franck Peillot's mondeuse pretty stunning.

[Stanislav Rudy]

Hello Keith,

From Bugey area I could visit and taste only the wines of Caveau Sylvain Bois, the young and ambitious winegrower. His Mondeuse seems to be more simple and lighter tahn those of Savoie, but for the price somewhere on the level of 4,50 € there I find the QPR OK.

Wink, I agree with what you say about Dupasquier - still some bottles of Roussette - both, "simple" and "high end" - are waiting for to be opened one day...
But also Jacquère - and even "simple" Chardonnay from this Domaine are very pleasing wines that should deserve more attention.

[Wink Lorch]

How weird - I could swear that I answered already about Bugey, so forgive me if something similar comes through!

Keith, I don't know the Bugey nearly as well as I should. And, whereas Peillot's Mondeuse has a high reputation, the few I've tasted from others have been somewhat simple and light, not dissimilar to most of those from Jongieux (indeed their climate certainly is more similar to Jongieux than to Arbin/Combe de Savoie). I must go and investigate further! But, it's worth bearing in mind that Bugey really is small - just over 1/4 size of Savoie and a lot of that is taken up with Cerdon or with production by Caveau Bugiste, the decent, but not special cooperative.