Jean-Yves Péron

Eloquent, educated, cultured, engaging and with wine that overwhelms you, Jean-Yves Péron stole our hearts back in 2012, and it's not just because of the superb espresso.

HIROTAKE OOKA
After completing his studies in structural and functional Biochemistry, the determined young Parisian student, Jean-Yves Péron, embarked on a career as a pharmaceutical researcher. However, he soon realized that his true passion, his burning desire, lay elsewhere. Undeterred, he set his sights on a new path-the world of winemaking.
He discovered that there might be more to be gained at the faculty in Bordeaux. One sunny afternoon, he set off for Bordeaux to pursue the National Diploma in Oenology. His knowledge of wine was limited to Mouton-Cadet and Krug Champagne, But the prospect of learning more was exciting. That crucial year, he sat on the university school bench next to Hirotake Ooka, a passionate wine enthusiast from a prominent Japanese family, and his love for wine was infectious.

CHOC
During one of the tasting sessions, Hirotake arrived with a 1998 St Joseph from Dard & Ribo, a vin naturel and without sulphur. This wine, which divided the tasters, sparked a revelation in Jean-Yves. He was captivated by its unique, unparalleled character and decided that he wanted to create wines that were just as bold and distinctive.

BORDEAUX AND PRIMEUR
But to achieve it takes work. Of course, Jean-Yves completed his studies well and had the NDO Diploma in his pocket, but if you are not the son of a winemaker, there is nothing to do but start with an apprenticeship. In Oregon, the new Eldorado for Pinot Noir, he works at billion-dollar developments of immense wine estates like e.g. Silicon Valley and in Saint-Emilion, he learns to make the slick wines for the 'En Primeur' tastings held every April for the whole world. With Jean-Louis Grippa and Thierry Allemand, he learns pruning, and with Bruno Schueller in Alsace, he sticks around, if allowed, the entire season. He went through all the work from vineyard to cellar and says he learned many tricks, but at the end of it all, I knew I wanted to make my wine.

METTEZ DU GAMAY
The search for a few hectares of vineyard with good soil and the right location begins with his heart's desire to own a piece of land in the hills of Conflans not far from Albertville in Haute-Savoie. Because his mother left a large family manor in Chevaline just above Lac d'Annecy, the vineyards 25 km away are easily accessible by car. Luck smiles on him, and he is lucky if he also manages to get hold of 70 acres of Mondeuse from an average of 70-year-old vines, the oldest of which date back to 1893 and face due south in a lush flora of wild absinthe, St John's Wort and bindweed on a soil of Mica-Schists with veins of quartz and iron dioxide. The steep terraces make it impossible to work with machinery, so Jean-Yves works with a winch and does the rest by hand.
'Everyone used to have 10 or 20 hectares of Mondeuse for their use or on the Bistros' tables. When I started in Albertville in 2004, there were 80 hectares of Mondeuse, and now there are 3.5 of which
I own 2.5. Nobody is waiting for those barren, unripe wines with excessive yields anymore.
Whenever they wanted to sell it, my father shouted: throw in Gamay!

HALFZUSSEN
The vines clinging to the slopes of Conflans are grown in pots just like Thierry Allemand's Syrah in the rocks of Cornas. Despite being a historical grape from Savoy, the Mondeuse is similar to the Syrah. According to a DNA test by a specialist in vine genetics, by crossing the white Mondeuse with the red Dureza from the Ardèche, the Syrah was created, and by crossing it with another variety - probably the Allobrogian, the black Mondeuse, the Mondeuse Noire, was created. So Cornas Syrah and Albertville Mondeuse are half-sisters.
'When Thierry Allemand saw my plot for the first time, he poofed and exclaimed that my Mondeuse had so much more in common with his Syrah than those from Hermitage or Côte Rôtie.'

WITH MY HAND ON MY HEART
Mondeuse Noire is a rustic variety with good resistance to mildew and rot. It is relatively easy to grow but much more challenging to ripen. Ripeness is an absolute prerequisite to making wine without sulphur. But despite Jean-Yves paying a lot of attention to his biodynamic vineyards and experimenting with plant density, his passion remains, first and foremost, making wine. 'I think in flavour. There are flavours I like and others I want to avoid again. When I moved to Chevaline and had my first vines, I knew how to make my wine before harvesting. That sounds very convincing, some will say!
'I know:' says Jean-Yves,' how to make my wine, and I know what I need to do to make my wine to my taste. Simply soaking ripe grapes, treading on their feet, pressing gently, not clarifying and not filtering, leaving without sulphurisation until spring in old barrels and ignoring fermentation completely. With my hand on my heart (and without flinching a muscle), I dare say that even without tasting, I can make my wine how I want it.'

I CAN'T POSSIBLY MAKE WINE THAT WAY
Almost angry but very serious, he continued, 'I know that fermentation (fermentation) in the cellar is the reign of great fear. The oenologist is the belt and braces. He analyses the must and throws in all sorts of things to let the selected yeasts do their work right to the end and then adds lactic acid bacteria to speed up malolactic fermentation even more because the faster you do everything, the quicker you can add sulphur and then hope everything is also quite quickly.

That way, I can't possibly make wine'.

I VICINI
His white wines taste more than sophisticated. Lush is a fragrant field bouquet with the finest cinnamon aroma—Oriental scents and essences but always elegant, fresh and delicate. The red wines are mostly carbonated, and some white wines undergo longer maceration times, influenced by Jean-Yves' love of northern Italian 'orange' wines.
These I Vicini wines consist of grapes collected mainly in Piedmont from friendly biodynamic winemakers. They offer a unique interpretation of grape varieties such as Barbera and Grignolino—all little gems to enjoy again and again.

NEW CELLAR
Jean Yves recently moved to a new cellar, an excellent working tool, on the heights of Albertville and as close as possible to his vines. The barrels are meticulously stacked, allowing the wines to develop in peace. Jean-Yves Péron's philosophy and eco-friendly winemaking practices are reflected in his exceptional wines, making his mark on the Savoy wine scene.