While driving through Savoie – with its stunning landscape and soaring Alpine mountains – one can forget how hard farming is here. The vines are vulnerable to both frost and humidity; making organic farming a heroic feat for most vintages. In the most difficult years, there is almost no one wine produced.

Gilles and Christine Berlioz, true icons of the area, experienced this in 2021. Which makes the 2022 arrivals from their Domaine Partagé especially noteworthy.

Whether these Alpine references are new to you, or you're a historic fan, there's more to dig into below.

From the work Gilles Berlioz is doing now, you can vividly see (and taste) the effortless connection he's always had with nature. But, his path was still a roundabout one to winemaking: after time cultivating flowers and vines, he bobbed over to construction work where a tragic accident (two fingers!) serendipitously sent him back home to the family vineyards in Chignin.

From there, alongside his wife Christine, he established Domaine Partagé; where already in the 1990s they practiced organic (and now, biodynamic) farming. From the start, Gilles and Christine have leaned into natural winemaking techniques – particularly his clever (but in Gilles' mind, common sense) use of fiberglass eggs laid on their sides (as they are in nature!) for gentle lees movement during élevage. Minimal sulfur is used, as well.

Partagé ("sharing") is a nod to the many people (and horses) who have contributed to the domaine's success for the last 3+ decades. Including the artist Michel Tolmer, whose cartoons of Gilles and Christine grace the labels below.

2023 Domaine Partage Gilles Berlioz 'Cuvée Cricri,' Savoie Chignin
Named for Christine: whole bunch Jacquére fermented with native yeast and raised in a mix of fiberglass eggs and amphora. A stony, cooling, Alpine white. $42

2023 Domaine Partage Gilles Berlioz 'Cuvée Bibi,' Vin de Savoie
Named for Gilles, a blend of Gamay and Mondeuse that's as juicy and fun as it is intensely flavorful.  $60

2023 Domaine Partage Gilles Berlioz 'Resilience,' Savoie Chignin-Bergeron
Whole bunch Bergeron (a local strain of Roussanne) that's gently pressed and aged in fiberglass egg. Concentrated orchard fruits and honeyed orange meets fresh mountain acidity. $65

2023 Domaine Partage Gilles Berlioz 'Deuse,' Vin de Savoie
The quintessential Berlioz bottling: low alcohol, high acid blend of Mondeuse and Persan. Semi-carbo, aged in fiberglass egg. Intense black and purple fruits, laced with violet. Stunning Savoie! $65

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