- Wine purchase, drinking and advance reading are optional. The full lesson and quiz can be followed alcohol-free.
Level 5 · Lesson 7
Alsace, Jura and Savoie: Borders, Slopes and Choices
17:20C39
Before you press play
Choose your preparation track
You do not need to buy every comparison wine. Choose the track that matches your time, budget, and interest.
- Optional open-label flight: 6 distinct wines. Keep labels visible, use small pours, provide water, food and spit cups, and use the pauses across more than one sitting if helpful.
- A — Famille Hugel Riesling Classic (Alsace). Grape/style: Dry Riesling reference. Alsace dry-white anchor. Reference edition: Producer range reference; match actual vintage and market edition before service. Substitution: Alsace Riesling with producer-confirmed sweetness, not an assumed dry style.
- B — Famille Hugel Pinot Gris Classic (Alsace). Grape/style: Dry Pinot Gris reference. Contrast grapes without assuming sweetness. Reference edition: Page title 2024 despite URL 2023; inspect actual bottle. Substitution: Documented Alsace Pinot Gris style; update comparison if residual sweetness differs.
- C — Domaine Badoz Cuvée Victoria Savagnin Ouillé (Jura). Grape/style: Oxygen-protected Savagnin. Protected-from-oxygen cellar route. Reference edition: Producer range reference; match actual vintage and market edition before service. Substitution: Jura white with producer-confirmed protected/ouillé maturation, preferably Savagnin.
- D — Domaine Badoz Tradition 2023 (Jura). Grape/style: Chardonnay/Savagnin with sous-voile component. Documented oxidative/yeast-veil route with grape blend confounder explicit. Reference edition: Producer 2023 page; 60% Chardonnay and 40% Savagnin stated; not a pure Savagnin comparison. Substitution: Jura white with documented sous-voile maturation; record grapes and age alongside C.
- E — Denis & Didier Berthollier Chignin Vieilles Vignes (Savoie). Grape/style: Jacquère white. Show lower Alpine vineyard setting and local grape. Reference edition: Producer range reference; match actual vintage and market edition before service. Substitution: Savoie Jacquère with exact origin, producer and cuvée confirmed.
- F — Denis & Didier Berthollier Les Granges Tissot (Savoie). Grape/style: Mondeuse red. Red-wine counterpart within Savoie. Reference edition: Producer range reference; match actual vintage and market edition before service. Substitution: Savoie Mondeuse red with actual source and site identity confirmed.
- Match actual producer, cuvée and vintage before applying a technical sheet. Check local availability before buying; use the described role when substituting.
- Use the visible labels, maps and documented production choices to follow each comparison. You do not need to invent a tasting note.
Taste responsibly: small pours, water, food, and spit cups are sensible equipment. Never build transport plans after the bottles are open.
Wine references for this class
Labels, technical sheets and source material
Use the named producer, wine and edition. A historical sheet or range page cannot establish the contents of another vintage.
- Vosges shelter, semi-continental setting and Germanic/Roman influences; inconsistent rainfall numbers not adopted.
- Côtes du Jura specification describes vin jaune and 62-cl clavelin; packaging reference, not a fixed evaporation formula.
- Denis & Didier Berthollier Chignin Vieilles Vignes / Denis & Didier Berthollier Les Granges Tissot — producer range reference; match actual edition
- Alsace also produces red Pinot Noir.
- Public-domain country/river geometry; town locators and approximate physical-feature markers, not vineyard boundaries.
- Famille Hugel Riesling Classic — Producer range reference; match actual vintage and market edition before service
- Famille Hugel Pinot Gris Classic — Page title 2024 despite URL 2023; inspect actual bottle
- Domaine Badoz Cuvée Victoria Savagnin Ouillé — Producer range reference; match actual vintage and market edition before service
- Domaine Badoz Tradition 2023 — Producer 2023 page; 60% Chardonnay and 40% Savagnin stated; not a pure Savagnin comparison
- Principal grape identities, typical expression and regional roles; original tasting prompts.
- Chardonnay comes from Burgundy and shares Pinot and Gouais blanc parentage with several other French grapes.
- Pinot Noir comes from Burgundy, with a long history that predates modern grape breeding.
- Riesling most likely originated along the Rhine; being important in Alsace does not make it exclusively French.
- Pinot Gris is a colour mutation of Pinot Noir.
- Gewurztraminer is an aromatic, pink-skinned mutation of Savagnin. That relationship is clearer than a simple village-of-invention story.
- Pinot Blanc is a white-skinned mutation of Pinot Noir.
- Sylvaner is thought to originate in central Europe, probably Austria.
- Jacquère is native to Savoie.
- Altesse is also native to Savoie.
- Mondeuse comes from Savoie. Mondeuse blanche is a distinct grape, not merely its white-skinned version.
- Savagnin may come from Franche-Comté or the Palatinate. Its precise origin is uncertain.
- Poulsard is native to Jura.
- Trousseau also originated in Jura.
- Savoie grape identities and expressions.
- Jura grape and style foundations.