Quenard 2025 "Les Abymes", Savoie

"The Quenard family’s long history in the Savoie doesn’t begin with André, but his arrival at the domaine in 1944 marks a turning point in the family’s legacy. When André took over their polyculture farm in the village of Chignin, the wines were still sold only by the barrel to café owners. Around 1960, with a deep-seated belief in the quality of his terroir—before Chignin’s AOC designation in 1976—he began bottling his own wines, championing the steep scree slopes of Torméry, and helping to establish the reputation of an entire winegrowing region along the way. By 1976, his son Michel arrived, and as a duo they were unstoppable, finessing their vineyard work, expanding their holdings, and fine-tuning every detail to produce perfumed and textured whites, robust and nuanced reds. Thirty years later, Michel’s son Guillaume joined the adventure, and for fifteen years the three men worked side-by-side, in whichever ways their various skills permitted. In March of this year, André passed away at the age of ninety-eight. Looking at photos of him harvesting his beloved Bergeron vines well into his silver years, it’s easy to see joy radiating from behind his kind gaze and to glean a sense of fulfillment due, at least in part, to a métier he was so passionate about."--Jane Augustine, Kermit Lynch Imports