The Wine That "Owns the List" at a 3 Michelin Star Restaurant in Savoie - 1 Brilliant Red and 1 Brilliant White for Under $30 from a New Star Producer

Our New Producer in Savoie
 - Terrific Quality - One of the Top Producers in Savoie
 - I'm Very Excited About This New Estate
 - Certified Organic Since 2011
 - Biodynamic

2018 Domaine des Orchis Quintessence de Altessse
 - A Boudignon/Yvonne Chenin Style of Altesse
 - Laser-Like, Super Precise, Sharp Expression of Altesse
 - Nose: An Aromatic Symphony
 - Green Apple, Mineral, Hay, Wild Flowers, White Flowers
 - Palate: Dense, Intense
 - Musky Pear Fruit, Lavender, Hawthorne Apple, Spices

2017 Domaine des Orchis Quintessence de Mondeuse
 - Blackberries Growing in a Forest 
 - with Mountain Rocks and Orchids and Fresh Wintery Soil
 - Palate Is a Big Ripe Blackberry Explosion
 - Leathery and Smokey, Intense Rocky Minerality
 - An Amazing value at $26.99 (Would be $40ish Through Standard Retail)

The Excitement of Savoie
I'm very excited to be selling great new wines from Burgundy and the Rhone.  But let's face it, most of my customers have had wines from these regions before.  What really gets me going is to find new produces who are making world class wine in regions that are less familiar.  And I'm able to get the best producers in these regions, with a little work.  Also, the wines are incredibly inexpensive for the quality.  Savoie is stunning and has stolen my heart. The whole region is just magical and I recently spent four days there. Each area has its own identity, style and varietals. I really got down to the nitty gritty and found some terrific new producers. Today's stop is Poisy and the brilliant and tiny estate of Domaine des Orchis. This is such an incredible find.

My 3 Michelin Star Meal with Domaine des Orchis
I wanted to tell a quick anecdote about dinner in Annecy the night before this visit to give a sense of

the quality of this producer. I ate at one of the best restaurants in France, the 3 Michelin Star Clos des Sens. The meal was brilliant. They only serve fish and vegetables and everything is local. Hyperlocal. There was one dish, which is trout with minced escargots on top. I happened to be drinking today's winery at the dinner as I knew it was on the list at Clos des Sens. It was the 2014 Quintessence de Altesse and it matched so perfectly with this dish it was eerie. Just a stunning match with a stunning dish. The wine riveted me. I was super excited to taste the next morning. Anyway, fast forward to the next morning at 9am and we are at the Domaine des Orchis, who I found by researching the wine list at Clos des Sens. It is a small estate in Poisy which is around 20 minutes from Annecy. As soon as Phillipe Heritier greeted us he exuded passion and warmth. I knew this estate was a doozy. Well I had an advantage as well as I had the 2014 Quintessence du Altesse at Clos des Sens the night before and it was magnificent and I could not get it our of my head. Phillipe only makes two wines. Mondeuse and Altesse. He also happens to be a snail farmer. The snails from the night before's exquisite snail dish were provided by him as he is old friends with the chef, Laurent Petit.


There are deep verticals of both of Phillipe's wines on the list. I assumed since there were deep verticals as well that these wines could age and also they were or exceedingly high quality as a Michelin *** restaurant had many of them on the list. I was right. These wines are brilliant. Just brilliant.

The Winery
First a bit of background. Phillipe Heritier opened in 2007 and has been working biodynamic since 2009 but is not certified by Demeter. Phillipe has been certified organic since 2011. Most of the vines are in Frangy which is only fifty hectares total. It used to be 1,200 hectares before phylloxera. Orchis means orchids and refers to naturally occurring orchids in the vineyards which means there is excellent soil and safe soil with access to the sun. These are high elevation vineyards in the mountains so that is critical.

The Wines
Up first is the yang  to the ying of Berlioz's Altesse. If Berlioz's Altesse is the Batard Montrachet of the Savoie through the lens of Altesse then the brilliant 2018 Domaine des Orchis "Quintessence de Altesse" for $26.99 a bottle on a 4-pack is more like a Boudignon/Yvonne Chenin style of Altesse. Super Fassy with loads and loads of acid, angles and structure. I had the 2014 at Clos Des Sens and it was sensational but needed 1 hour and the somm decanted it for me. This is such a super serious, dense, yet light and superbly structured Altesse. Berlioz has that classic Altesse acidity and unique flavors but it is more opulent. Orchis' comes from the Haut-Savoie and is around 45 minutes away from his winery. Orchis' wines have an even more "Muscadet of the Alps" vibe than the Berlioz "El Hem." Stunning nose. Such a laser-like, super precise, sharp expression of Altesse. It smells stark yet so chiseled and detailed. Huge green apple, mineral, hay, wild flowers, white flowers, just so super expressive, steely and mineral, almost Muscadet like.  Huge deep yet precise and high acid  aromas of mountain violets, other mountain wild flowers, earth, pine trees and intense almost saline/iodine like minerality. When you smell this wine, it almost transports you to a mountain meadow. There's nothing quite like it.  Fruit, flowers and spices galore on just a massive slab of minerality. A regular aromatic symphony that is so unexpected and also so inviting once you get attuned to it.

Palate is dense and intense with super terrific, bright and vivid acidity and freshness. Long and laser like. Iodine and so so mineral on the finish. Inner mouth mineral aromas. Terrific structure.  Musky pear fruit, lavender, Hawthorne Apple, spices and even some smoke make this palate unforgettable and distinctive but always with an edge like a great Muscadet. Pure and concentrated. Big structure and ageability. Needs air. The acid brings thunder and electricity throughout and the finish crashes and echoes like a cymbal. Altesse ages so well as the 2014 can attest to that barely was showing age. This will be a stunner in 5-10 years. If one drinks now I recommend a decant.

Up next is the 2017 Domaine des Orchis Quintessence de Mondeuse for $26.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. Yes, I know. It's silly how inexpensive this wine is. This would be around $38-$42 via 3 tier and please understand that. It drinks easily like that. The style of this wine is blackberries growing in a forest amongst all types of mountain rocks and orchids with fresh wintery soil. It has a freshness and a purity to it that is stunning and the style here is not opulent like at Berlioz in Chignin, but precise, with drop dead purity, mineral-driven and more leathery and foresty. I love the style here. There is no shortage of the alluring quality of the Mondeuse black fruits but also what I love about Phillipe's touch is that it's so gentle and hands off the wines are wonderful, yet so deep and soulful, classic expressions of Mondeuse from Frangy.

The nose of the 2017 has big spices.  Baking spices and more. Forest scents galore. Like a big forest. Freshly rained. Wild flowers as well. Stunning depth to the aromas. It's very complex and also shows so much leather and smoke as well with some air. It's a very elemental nose that gives off an exceptional sense of place. It's so ultra clean one cannot believe it. This wine is wine brooding and holding back as well with a bright future ahead of it. This was bottled in late February so it's got so much more to tell.


The palate is a stunner. The freshness and purity of the Orchis wines is something else. You shake your head. There is lots of that Fassy acid and a juiciness factor that is just transcendent. It's leathery and smokey with a big ripe blackberry explosion that is riddled with intense rocky minerality. It's so complex and pure with top notch finesse and insane inner mouth aromas. It crunches and saturates your palate but in the most straight and linear way. The finish is epic and lasts and lasts. I can't believe this stuff is only $26.99. It really does not compute to me. The finish is so leathery and Smokey and the intermingling of the unreal slathered in rock black fruits that sap and saturate your palate is unreal. Stunning stuff. This will age for 10-15 years easy and will need 2-3 years I think. It's silly how good.

2018 Domaine des Orchis Quintessence de Altesse - $28.99 

($107.96 4-pack) (*Including Tariff of $2.45)

2017 Domaine des Orchis Quintessence de Mondeuse - $28.99 - 

($107.96 4-pack) (*Including Tariff of $2.45)