We have finally received a new shipment from Domaine Blard & Fils (after a never-ending journey due to the cargo shipping meltdown…). We are excited to introduce new wines. Read-on to discover the direction the domaine is taking and see the new wines that we brought and will bring. 

Since Thomas joined his father Jean-Noel and then somehow took the lead a few years back, the domaine has been evolving a lot, never denying its past, always respecting the work of the previous generations but exploring new directions and softly but continuously changing. Clearly, these are positive changes and the domaine is on a consistent upswing now for quite some years. The dynamic: 

• Producing many cuvées – even if small: not afraid to do many different wines, including more and more parcellaires (single vineyard), and not afraid to do many different labels! We’re glad to see the new generation of Savoie winemakers exploring the single-vineyard approach as it helps us better understand the terroir.

• Completing the move to organic farming – it’s not new that the domaine embraced organic farming, but it took some time to fully transition. The domaine has now converted to organic farming its entire vineyard. The AB certification was not the main goal at first but it has also been managed now – just need to wait for a couple of years of delay to be allowed to use the AB mention on the labels.

• More and more natural in the cellar as well. Spontaneous fermentation from native yeast became a rule. The use of SO2 has been severely reduced and Thomas continues in that direction and is about to release a first wine “zero-zero”. Some wines are still filtered at a quite coarse level but the un-filtering approach is also making its point. Many cuvées are now unfiltered.

• Exploring new techniques around vinification, maceration and ageing.

With that new shipment, we’re happy as we can almost show the entire current lineup of the domaine, and especially a good number of Jacquère – a favourite of ours, and a variety not as simple as it might look at first, as David Hatzopoulos from Chambers Streets Wine mentions here.

Here are the wines that we brought this time:

• Re-stocking on the Roussette de Savoie 2019 and the Pinot Noir 2018.

• New: Apremont Thomas 2019, one of the classics of the Domaine that we could not import yet last year, a great white Jacquère wine, excellent value and great expression of the Apremont appellation. A flagship wine for the domaine and unbeatable value

• New: Lébraz 2017, a single vineyard Jacquère white with a very meticulous grape selection and winemaking that shows amazing minerality, tension and freshness.

• New: Face Sud 2019, yet another 100% Jacquère, a new cuvée, the result of a very special plot that gave some very nice fruits that Thomas decided to vinify separately.

• New: Brut Alpin Rosé 2017, a sparkling (Crémant de Savoie) rosé “de saignée” with very little dosage that is both mineral and floral. Amazing value and the best companion for spring and summer aperitifs.

• New: Arbin 2018, a Mondeuse Noire from a tiny plot on the Arbin slope that Thomas and Jean-Noel had the opportunity to rent. This is the second vintage they make it and it’s already delicious.

We also have an eye on what’s coming next from Thomas and Jean-Noel’s cellar after the 2020 harvest. Here are wines that are not yet released but will probably be part of our next shipment:

• Face Nord: the first “zero-zero” from Thomas. A Jacquère without anything added or anything removed. The wine was just bottled and we are ready to soon send some here…

• Face Ouest and Face Est: still waiting for Thomas to surprise us but we can already say that these will be also “zero-zero” completing the lineup of the Domaine with two additional faces… and one will involve maceration and the other one probably red grape…

• Malvoisie Passerillé 2020: we were there for the harvest and saw the grapes slowly concentrating natural sugar while drying in their racks of the course of end-August, September and October. The wine is about to be bottled next Month, a nice natural sweet wine from the Alps like very few…

We’re so glad to be part of the Blard story in our very humble way. We love the approach and the changes brought by Thomas and Jean-Noel, and also the respect for the elders and the terroir in general. Wines have been delighting us and many others and they promise to delight more and more in the future. 

As Thomas would say,

Arvi!

Thomas Blard picking up herbs in Chartreuse, to use them to make tisanes for the treatment of the vines