Domaine de l'Enviegne
Haute Savoie, Veigy-Foncenex, France (Lake Geneva area)
 

Alexis Tondeur came to winemaking after a career that had nothing to do with vines, working in accounting and hospitality, most recently as a concierge at a hotel in Geneva.
 

Trained at AgroSup Dijon, he founded Domaine de l'Enviegne in 2021, in the Bas-Chablais on the southern shore of Lake Geneva, with just under 4 hectares spread across the communes of Ballaison and Douvaine.
 

Half the vineyard is old Chasselas, some vines over 60 years old, the other half recent plantings of Altesse, Pinot Noir and Mondeuse Noire, grown from massale selection to keep the vines varied and resilient.
 

The domaine has been farmed organically since the very first vintage. Grass is left to grow between the rows to hold the soil together, treatments are kept to a minimum dose of copper and sulphur, and the ground is worked only lightly, with a tracked machine used on the steeper slopes to avoid compacting the soil.
 

In the cellar, everything ferments with indigenous yeasts, without fining or filtration, and with next to no sulphur added.
 

The result is Chasselas that finally gets to show what it can do, precise, lively wines a world away from its old reputation as a humble table grape.