Prieuré Saint Christophe: a Savoie institution

auction update – in association with iDealwine

To discover one of French viticulture’s hidden gems, head off the beaten track to mountainous Savoie and its distinctive wine styles.

Savoie might be France’s best-kept secret. Or you might be reading this, thinking: “I’ve read 20 different articles within the past year calling the region that, so is it really a secret now?” Well, if that’s the case, how about we call Savoie France’s ‘off the beaten track’ region? After all, it does not have the same pulling power as the world-renowned Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhône and Champagne regions – despite producing excellent wines that are full of uniqueness and charm.

Located in eastern France, not far from the Swiss border, with the Jura wine region to the north, Savoie, or Savoy as you can sometimes find it written in English, is one of France’s oldest winemaking regions and covers some 2,200 hectares. If you’ve been skiing to the Alps, you may have opened a bottle or two of Savoie’s produce as it was once considered “skier ’s wine”, but the tables have been turning thanks to the hard work and innovation of the region’s winemakers.

Nowadays, wines made from the local grape varieties of Jacquère, Altesse (both white grapes) and Mondeuse (a black grape), along with the other 20 varieties permitted in the appellation, have been scaling new heights on the auction market, as well as finding new wine enthusiasts to convince.

The vines grow on mountainsides facing south or south-east, giving them ample sunshine to flourish, and the grapes the warmth to ripen. This exposure, along with the nearby lakes and rivers (bodies of water retain heat overnight, as well as long into autumn when the air temperatures drop, heating up nearby land), help protect the vines from the cool mountain air. A mosaic of soils and the continental climate with Mediterranean influences create unique terroirs and microclimates, which lead to a diverse range of flavours and profiles. The latter means that the wines produced here can accompany a wide range of dishes, appealing to any wine enthusiast who likes to find the perfect pairing.

It’s here in this mountainous region where the wines of Prieuré Saint Christophe are crafted. This estate was started in the 1970s by Michel Grisard and quickly rose to become a Savoie winemaking institution, helping to place the region on wine enthusiasts’ radars.

The six-hectare estate is home to two of the region’s symbolic grape varieties: Mondeuse and Altesse. Yields were kept low, with only 20,000 bottles produced each year – you can imagine what this would mean for demand on the secondary market. Michel Grisard took the visionary step to convert the vineyards to biodynamic practices in 1994, long before it was a major trend in the world of wine. This care for the natural world while working in the vineyard, as well as the well-controlled low yields, helped the winemaker craft wines with a rare elegance, making them highly sought-after by the wine enthusiasts who uncovered their beauty.

Michel Grisard chose to create his red wines in a way similar to Burgundian Pinot Noir, using a proportion of whole bunches. The maturation steps used are basically the same for both the red and white wines. The Altesse spends 12 months in wooden barrels, followed by six months in vats, while this order is reversed for the Mondeuse (which spends six months in vats, followed by 12 months in barrels to refine the tannins).

In 2015, Michel Grisard decided to sell his estate to the Giachino brothers, handpicked by the winemaker himself, who have been running their family’s vineyard in Savoie since 1988. Michel Grisard’s decision to sell the estate has rendered his wines collectible bottles, with prices soaring at auction as this is now one of the only ways for wine enthusiasts to taste the work of a forerunner in the biodynamic wine world.

The estate’s wines are prized for their quality and elegance, while their rarity can push up the prices on the secondary market. Bottles of 2009 IGP d’Allobrogie Mondeuse Prestige went under the hammer twice on iDealwine, France’s leading wine auction house, in 2024 for €475, despite a price estimate of €218, illustrating just how deeply wine enthusiasts are willing to dig into their pockets for a wine from Prieuré Saint-Christophe.

And it’s not just the estate’s red wines that have a following at auction. The white IGP Vin des Allobroges Altesse commands high prices when compared to the region’s other wines too. A bottle from the 2009 vintage sold for €287 in November 2023, while two bottles from 2013 went under the hammer for €751 and €287 in June and May 2024 respectively. To put wine enthusiasts’ thirst for this wine into perspective, iDealwine’s current price estimate for the 2013 vintage is €134.

Prieuré Saint-Christophe incarnates excellence and innovation in Savoie and, under the stewardship of Michel Grisard, the estate became a trusted name, bringing together tradition, quality and respect for the environment.

Due to the estate’s small size, the wines are becoming rarer and rarer on the secondary market as those in possession of them seem to like to hold onto their bottles, which contributes to the prices witnessed on iDealwine’s auction website.

• Founded in 2000, iDealwine is France’s top wine auctioneer and leading online wine auction house worldwide.

• Fine Spirits Auction (FSA) is iDealwine’s dedicated spirits platform, launched in partnership with La Maison du Whisky, a French specialist in high-end spirits since 1956. Seven auctions of the finest whisky, rum, Cognac and more take place annually.

• Based in Paris, and with offices in Bordeaux and Hong Kong, iDealwine sources rare bottles from European cellars, private collections and direct from producers before meticulously authenticating and shipping to enthusiasts, collectors and trade customers worldwide.

• If you are keen to sell your wines or spirits, check out idealwine.com.