St Germain

Raphaël Saint Germain is a champion of both Alpine and the rare Savoie grape varieties.

He started the winery with his brother Etienne, making wine from grapes produced on their uncle's vineyards, a tiny 3.5 hectares. Their grandfather, Albert Saint-Germain, had made wine, but the next generation hadn't been very interested. Raphaël and Etienne got the bug.

Raphaël's didn't set out to make wine. He studied plant biology and started a career as an environmental scientist. This maybe what led him to embrace organic viticulture once he hung up his lab coat and joined his brother in the winery. Raphael focused on the vineyard, and Etienne the cellar work. They achieved full organic certification in 2012. Shortly after this Etienne decided to take a backseat - running a winery is hard! - leaving his brother to continue solo.

His love of the flora and fauna of his native Savoie and his biologist background has led Raphaël to place great emphasis on maintaining an optimal level of biodiversity in the vineyard, and biodynamic processes. It's not just in the vineyards that the focus is on natural and sustainable practices, but also in the cellar. For example Fabrice, the current winemaker uses Carbon Dioxide capture from the fermentation process to help reduce the levels of sulphur in the winemaking (great for anyone who is sensitive to high levels of sulphites in wine).

Whether you choose the Altesse white with its tropical fruits and alpine herbs or either of the reds with their bright red fruits and garrigue herbs you’ll get a great tasting wine that’s also made in harmony with nature! What’s not to like??