While they have a fair number of ‘small’ grapes in France, the number pales in comparison to that in Italy, and most of these French varietals are typically used in blends. If any of these ‘small’ grapes were being made into single varietal wines, I didn’t expect to find them in general circulation in this country. Mother Nature, in the guise of the Phylloxera scourge, wiped out most of the vineyards of France at the end of the 19th century, and with them went many of France’s lesser grape varieties, those indigenous to small pockets of its vast wine landscape. When the vineyards were replanted many of the low yield problem varieties never made the cut so to speak - the French appellation system gave the vignerons no incentive to resurrect these varieties.
I had been aware of this history for a long time, so when I first started to see the Eric Chevalier’s Fié Gris 2008 on the shelves of a few stores here in Seattle last fall, I just assumed it was a name derived from it’s specific Loire locale or from his family history, and that it was either one of the three main Loire whites, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadette, or Chenic Blanc or a proprietary blend. It popped up again a few weeks ago so I decided to investigate. Well, if Fié Gris didn’t turn out to be something special, extra special for that matter. This low yield difficult to grow grape variety was planted throughout the region before the scourge and thought to be a gone for good. Fié Gris is now believed to be an ancestor, or a cousin, of Sauvignon Blanc - hence its other name, Sauvignon Gris - and the vines that were discovered are believed to have been replanted just after the Phylloxera had taken its toll.
Continue reading "Against All Odds: The Resurrection Of Fié Gris " »