About the Domaine
In the foothills of the French Alps, Domaine de Chevillard sits firmly in the heart of the Combe de Savoie.
From a long line of farmers and wine growers, Matthieu Goury was raised just outside the village of Saint-Pierre-d’Albigny, in the hamlet of Chevillard – which today lends its name to the Domaine. From a young age Matthieu was convinced that great wines could be produced from native grape varieties on these the steep limestone hillsides.
Despite growing grapes for generations, the Goury family never bottled their production. Everything was sold to the local cooperative or to other producers in the region. Wanting to obtain further knowledge of grape growing and wine making, Matthieu studied viticulture and oenology in Beaune, followed by a master’s degree in agronomy from the Higher Institute of Agriculture for the Rhône-Alpes. After the completion of his studies Matthieu spent several years managing vineyards and making wine in Australia, Canada, and the Rhône Valley, working for the likes of Chapoutier, Jaboulet, and Jasper Hill.
In 2013, Matthieu returned to Savoie with his wife Guillemette and settled in the village of St. Pierre d’Albigny in a stone farmhouse with a cellar dating back to 1703. They still live and make wine there today. From 2013 to 2015, Matthieu worked for a Savoie négociant and made wine with a fellow Savoie vigneron Matthieu Appfel. However, in late 2015 Goury made the decision to pursue his dream of having his own estate and created Domaine de Chevillard. The first vintage was 2016.
Today Domaine de Chevillard totals 10 hectares spread over numerous parcels in St. Pierre d’Albigny, St. Jean de la Porte, Fréterive, Chignin, Chapareillan, Les Marches, St Jean de Chevelu, Apremont, Abymes, and Monthoux. Much of the focus and labor at the Domaine is in the vineyards. Beliveing that great wine can only come from healthy grapes, the Domaine goes beyond organic certification by utilizing many biodynamic principles in the vines. Guillemette, who trained in Agricultural Phytotherapy at the École Lyonnaise des Plantes, personally prepares all plant-based treatments used in the vines. Throughout the year, manual work and traditional techniques are employed–thorough de-budding, leaf-stripping and selective removal of shoots–to limit the yields and optimize the ripening of the grapes. All grapes are hand harvested.
In the cellar Matthieu’s approach is old school, prioritizing the quality of fruit above all else. The white varieties are pressed very gently using an old Coquard press and fermented directly in used oak barrels of various sizes. The red varieties are destemmed and macerated whole berry for 2-4 weeks in concrete tanks, with a daily pump over using just a watering can. There is only one sulfur addition that occurs 1-2 months before bottling, after the wines are racked off the fine lees. From 2020 all wines age a minimum 24 months in used oak barrels of various sizes and are bottled directly from barrel. Certain bottlings of Altesse and Mondeuse will age longer in barrel.
From the outset Matthieu Goury’s philosophy has been to keep intervention during both the vine growing and winemaking to a minimum to allow the wines to undergo a natural maturation and express all the richness of the Savoie’s terroir. The results speak for themselves. The wines are elegant, long lingering and deep in structure, just like their land of origin.
