France

In 2001, fifth-generation winemaker Dominique Lucas was disillusioned with his native Burgundy's attitudes to chemical farming and land costs. He took a job in Haute-Savoie and, after gradually buying up old plots and planting new vineyards, he founded Les Vignes de Paradis on slopes above Lake Geneva near the French-Swiss border in 2008.Using cutting-edge biodynamic farming methods, Dominique tends 7.5ha of Chasselas, along with a little Chardonnay, Altesse and Savagnin around Crépy, Marin, Ripaille and Marignan, and works with a handful of top local growers for his micro-négociant project Terroir du Léman.He harvests low yields of late-picked fruit with multiple passes through the vineyards, forgoing the chaptalisation – adding sugar to extend fermentations, thus creating more alcohol – that is standard for many Savoie vignerons. Inside his winery he employs an assortment of vinification methods and vessels, including amphorae, barrels and concrete eggs to craft deeply flavoured wines with crystalline minerality and beautiful tension.Vignerons like Dominique are helping shift Savoie's reputation from a land of unexciting wine to one of France's most interesting regions.

Les Vignes de Paradis

Wines

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