Whenever we talk about wine, we inevitably end up telling at least two stories: that of the grape variety and that of its creator, the producer. To introduce the protagonists of this tale, I find it hard to stray from this remark written by Jason Wilson, a journalist among others for the New York Times, who expressed himself about them in this way:
"So what? How can one drink a wine like this — knowing the tragedy behind it, understanding that one is drinking one of the last bottles that will exist — without a bit of gratitude and self-reflection? A wine like this is deeper than its obscurity, its scarcity, or anything else that people boast about when chasing so-called unicorn wines. How does one honor the privilege of drinking a bottle like this?"
The more I travel along little-trodden paths, the more often I find it easy to come across stories that raise in us wine enthusiasts this type of questions and reflections, amidst dreams of glory shattered by a market that pays little attention to the enhancement of the non-canonical, wings clipped by the introverted demons of particularly sensitive producers or by misunderstood avant-garde vanity.
Local white grape varietal from Haute-Savoie in the Vallée de l'Arve in France.
But let's get back to ourselves and our two characters. The first is the gringet. Of medium ripening and particularly fragile as it is highly susceptible to fungal diseases such as powdery mildew and especially downy mildew.
From the gringet, light and acidic white wines are produced with whispered aromas of dried apples and yellow plums, which are mainly used for sparkling wines. In 2021, the variety counted about 22 hectares of declared vineyards of which as many as 11 belonged to the second protagonist of this story: Dominique Belluard, a winemaker born in 1960 who, from 1986, the year of the first harvest, until 2021, the year he tragically passed away, dedicated his life to the protection, care, and enhancement of this fragile grape variety. Respectful methods in the vineyard, non-certified biodynamic practices starting from the 2000s, and vinifications with indigenous yeasts and concrete eggs completed the magic, transforming the juices of this perhaps a bit too shy and weak grape into authentic masterpieces.
What strikes and leaves one enchanted is the mastery of Dominique Belluard in telling about the vineyard and the territory without any urge for protagonism.
Wines, all of them, that speak of the soil that has nurtured the vines of which they are children. And this is how in "Le Feu" the sulfurous notes of gunpowder and rust emerge, offspring of the red clays. In "Les Alpes", a true masterpiece, the delicate floral tones of edelweiss stand out alongside the mineral puffs given by the Jurassic fossils present in the soil made up of calcareous gravel from the Chablais massif, glacial moraine, and marl. In the sparkling wines, "Les Perles du Mont Blanc", "Ayse Brut" and "Mont Blanc", the common thread is undoubtedly the crisp acidity and the green hints of apple and citrus. The identity is still to be sought in the rocky and mineral hints that, from time to time, depending on the parcels used, make up the skeleton of the wine and construct the architrave that supports the lean pulp.
The wines of Dominique, in my opinion, were authentic unicorns. Always original, subtle but not trivial, whispering but not mute, ethereal without being anonymous, refined but pure, like the air breathed in high mountains: always capable of striking with their biting acidity and minerality more than the palate.
Alas, like many great artists, one realized too late the incredible talent lost with his premature departure, but perhaps, precisely in the despair and sadness in the background, lies an integral part of this fascinating story.
Ah, unicorn wines are perhaps wines for sentimental people with a preference for melancholy, often too expensive and always capable of leaving you with that feeling of sadness that overwhelms you after being moved by something you know you can no longer find.
