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Vin de Savoie
Vin de Savoie is the overall appellation for any wine produced within the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie. The AOC Vin de Savoie comes in white, red, rosé and sparkling wines with different styles and varieties.
Whites - they count for about 70 percent of the wine produced in this AOC. They are made from the dominant local grape varieties Jacquere, Roussette, Malvoisie, and Mondeuse Blanche along with Chardonnay and Aligote. Most wines are bottled as single grape varieties and the most popular wines come from 15 crus that may add their own name to the appellation on the label. They include Ripaille, Apremont, Abymes, Montmelian, and Chautagne. These white wines are dry, delicate, light and best enjoyed young.
Reds and Rosé - Gamay, Mondeuse, and Pinot Noir grapes go into the light red and rosé wines, while the three communes of Arbin, Cruet and Saint-Jean-de-la-Porte, on the northwest slope of the Combe de Savoie are specialized in reds, with the privileged grape variety Mondeuse. They produce purple wines that can age up to 10 years.
Sparkling wine - The best known is the Savoy-Ayze wine, a delicate sparkling wine with an aromatic nose.
Tips: Whites are best served with fish as well as regional cheese dishes such as raclette and fondue. For reds and rosé, they are best served at room temperature with game or roasted meat. Serve the sparkiling wine chilled as an aperitif.
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Roussette de Savoie
This AOC covers the whole region like Vin de Savoie AOC, but it applies only to the white wines that are made primarily or entirely from Roussette (also called Altesse), one of the Savoie's best grape varieties. The name of the AOC Roussette of Savoy may be supplemented by the following geographical designations: Frangy, Marestel, Monterminod, and Monthoux. In this case, the wine must be made from 100 percent Roussette, though elsewhere they can contain up to 50 percent of Chardonnay. They are dry white wines with undeniable finesse, slightly acidulous, but fruity.
Tips: Goes particularly well with fried foods, lake fish and crayfish.
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Crépy
This is a small white wine AOC for vineyards along the southern shore of the Geneva lake in Haute-Savoie. The wines of Crepy have much in common with their neighbors in Switzerland
Crépy wines are made only from the Chasselas grape variety and come in a green flute bottle, like that of Alsace. They are light, floral, slightly spritzy, very low in alcohol and offer a refreshing acidity.
Tips: Serve with shellfish, lake or river fish, cheese fondue, tartiflette, and Savoie cheeses.
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Seyssel
The town of Seyssel lies on both banks of the Rhône river, just north of Lac du Bourget and the town of Aix-les-Bains.
Production is divided between still, dry wines and sparkling wine made using the traditional method. The still wines, made from the Roussette grapes (also called Altesse) are dry, light whites with a delicate, herbal and floral character. The straw-colored sparkling Seyssel is far better known than the still wines. It is mainly made from the local grape Molette.
Tips: Seysell is best served chilled with fish, dumplings, gratin of crayfish, but also cheese from Savoie. Brut, extra-dry or semi-dry, sparkling Seyssel is perfect as an aperitif. Both of them make excellent accompaniments to the local specialty, Raclette.
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