Consider Jacquère as sunshine in a glass by the meadow! It is light and crisp with gentle florality, great mineral talc character, and even notes of fresh parsley. The Labbé Abymes is all of these plus complex notes of quince, crabapple, lemon pith, and citrus confection.

WINE INFORMATION

In 1975, two brothers established a small farm on 10 hectares of land in Savoy, France, a region that borders Switzerland and sits at the foothill of the Alps. The Labbé farm produced hay, wheat, milk, beef and table grapes- which were fermented into an admittedly “not very good” white wine meant only for home consumption. When two cousins- sons of the founding brothers took over the estate in 2004, they decided to focus on winegrowing instead of animal husbandry, and for our drinking pleasure, wisely planted the AOC’s designated Jacquère grape and began wine production.

The soils of this vineyard are mostly argilo/calcaire with some 2 inch stones - debris from years of avalanches from the Alps. The name Abymes, or “abimé”, which translates to ruin, or broken, refers to this soil composition, and when seen on the label, designates the wine as one of the sixteen dénominations géographiques recognized in Vin de Savoie AOC wines. Wines labelled with the Abymes designation must be comprised of at least 90% Jacquère to bear the distinction- the Roger Labbé is 100% Jacquère grape.

It is estimated that 80% of the wine produced in the Savoy is consumed there. With only 1,000 hectares of Jacquère planted in the region, one is less likely to find a bottle in the US.