Following on from Wink Lorch’s award-winning Jura Wine book, Wink’s second book focuses on the eclectic wines of Savoie, Bugey and other French Alpine wine regions.

After years hidden away in the craggy mountains, wines from Savoie and Bugey are now offered in restaurants and wine stores worldwide. This book tells the story of the men and women who make these characterful wines, how they have tamed the steep hillsides to plant the vines and mastered their unusual grape varieties.

Wink Lorch, who has lived part-time in the French Alps for over two decades, drove across numerous Alpine passes and climbed countless steep vineyards to explore Savoie and its neighbouring wine regions — Bugey and Isère, and, further south, Hautes-Alpes and the Clairette de Die area.

Alongside almost 120 producer profiles, Wines of the French Alps: Savoie, Bugey and beyond summarizes the appellations, terroir, grapes, winegrowing and winemaking, and explores the history that has made these wines worthy of a place on the finest tables. It features over 200 colour photographs by Mick Rock of Cephas and other professional photographers; it also includes 13 specially-commissioned maps and geological diagrams.

Wines of the French Alps is a more complete documentation on the wines of Savoie, Bugey and beyond than anything ever published, even in French. It is set to become an essential handbook for wine lovers and wine professionals alike.

Wines of the French Alps was short-listed for Best Drinks Book in the André Simon Awards 2019 and has received numerous positive reviews.

Wink Lorch

Books