Domaine Des Ardoisieres is a tiny, 17 acre winery in Savoie. This mountainous French wine region is located near the border of Switzerland, below Jura, and is producing some of the most exciting white wines in France right now.
This wine is a vineyard blend of Jacquère, Mondeuse Blanche, and Chardonnay from forty-year-old vines. It is one of the most beautiful white wines to be found for under $50.
The flavors and scents of this wine are truly transformative, pushing to a staggering poetic beauty. I’ll try to make sense of it in words, but this wine truly defies both words and logic. Sea smoke rises out of the glass—a scent of sweet toasted pine nuts and lemon oil flickers by. A richness on the palate stretches tight with a laser-cut clarity. Flavors of white peaches, nectarines, and chestnut honey ripen into fully formed fruit with a touch of ocean brine above a wet granite beach.