A little bit of history ...
From antiquity, the Allobroges, a Celtic people, settled in the Savoy region, practiced viticulture, but it was the Romans who favored its expansion along the Alpine routes. Then from the 4th century, Christianity continued to develop. For the needs in mass wine, vines are cultivated near the bishoprics and the abbeys.
From the 13th century, the nobles took an interest in wine, a source of income (trade, taxes, rents, etc.) but above all of prestige. Thanks to the counts and dukes of Savoy, the good terroirs on the shores of Lake Geneva, Seyssel, Chautagne, the combe de Savoie, the cluse de Chambéry, etc. are revealed. At that time, only white wines were appreciated.
At the end of the Middle Ages, the taste for wine spread among the population. And until the 18th century, the vineyard will experience its greatest expansion. However, this period was marked by very harsh winters, heavy rains, but also wars of occupation (as in the Combe de Savoie), which were detrimental to the cultivation of the vine.
Savoy was attached to the French Republic from 1792 to 1815. The vines of the clergy and nobles were seized and sold mainly to wealthy bourgeois or farmers. During the 19th century, quality viticulture, which responded to a demand for superior fine wines (white or red), coexisted with abundant but archaic viticulture. In 1860, Savoy became French, Savoyard wines struggled to find a place in a very flourishing viticulture.
There followed 70 terrible years, between the destructive diseases of the end of the 19th century (mildew, powdery mildew, phylloxera, etc.), the resulting wine crisis and the wars: thousands of hectares were abandoned, the hillsides deserted for the benefit of the plain. The grape variety is dominated by the robust Jacquère… the wines of Savoie are doing badly.
But finally from the 1950s, winegrowers engage in a qualitative approach: they improve their farming methods, they federate, create cooperatives. The best plots known for centuries are reinvested... With the conquest of quality labels, VDQS (1956) and AOC (1973), the revival of viticulture in the Savoy region began. And since then, it has been invented with each generation to face new challenges.
Source: Savoie Vine and Wine Museum, Montmélian
The Pierre Galet Alpine Ampelography Center
Founded on the initiative of winegrowers and personalities from the world of vine and wine, this association has been working for years for the restoration of vineyards of forgotten terroirs and grape varieties.
