Michelin-star wine experience at world's most luxurious ski resort

How to Complete

4 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. 🍷 1

   Taste the Wine Romans Planted Twice

   wine $$

   Chignin-Bergeron exists on exactly 80 hectares of planet Earth—all visible from your table.

   Ask for "Chignin-Bergeron by the glass—do you have Quenard?" when sommelier Bruno Cahu approaches your table. Here's your story: Romans planted Roussanne in two places simultaneously—the Rhône Valley and here in Savoie. Same grape, completely different wines. Rhône Roussanne is heady and rich. This alpine version? Crystalline, with apricot and mountain herbs. The Quenard family fought to make this Savoie's flagship white—Wink Lorch calls them "the standard-bearer." The sommelier will light up—most guests order Burgundy.

   🔄 BACKUP: If they don't have Quenard, ask for Berthollier (organic) or any Chignin-Bergeron. Price: €15-25/glass.

   🍷 Log Memory
2. 📜 2

   Learn the POW Camp Secret

   history Free

   You're dining in a resort designed by prisoners on scraps of paper in a Nazi stalag.

   Before your first course, catch your server or sommelier and ask "Is it true Courchevel was designed in a POW camp?" In 1942, two French prisoners—Laurent Chappis (ski tourer, war hero) and Maurice Michaud (Savoyard engineer)—drew plans for the world's first purpose-built ski resort while interned in Austria. Chappis called it "l'université de captivité." They sketched chair lifts, shelters, identified runs. They were liberated and built it.

   🔄 BACKUP: If they don't know, ask about Michel Rochedy earning Courchevel's first Michelin star in 1979—"the Bocuse of the Alps" ran this kitchen for 55 years until 2018.

   🍷 Log Memory
3. 🍷 3

   Unlock the Savoie-Only Cheese Cart

   wine $$

   Most tables order Loire and Normandy. You're getting the mountain's own treasures.

   When dessert menus arrive, before anyone orders sweets, ask for the cheese trolley—but say "only Savoie cheeses, please." Request four specific cheeses: Beaufort d'alpage (summer alpine—"the best of the best"), fermier Reblochon (green label = single-herd, invented for tax evasion in the 13th century), Tomme de Savoie (peasant survival cheese from skim milk), and Abondance (monks supplied this to the papal conclave at Avignon in the 14th century). Ask the sommelier to pair each cheese with a different local wine—Mondeuse with aged Beaufort, Roussette with younger cheeses.

   🔄 BACKUP: If they don't have all four, just ask for "whatever's from within 50km of here." Price: €25-40 for the cheese course.

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4. ⛰️ 4

   Hunt the Grape That Ripens in Snow

   Optional

   adventure $

   Mondeuse: what Roman writer Columella called the variety that "ripens amidst the snow."

   Two thousand years ago, Columella described Mondeuse as "the variety that ripens amidst the snow." It's the mountain cousin of Syrah—literally, DNA links them. Ask wine list or sommelier Bruno Cahu directly for a glass of Mondeuse, ideally "Vieilles Vignes" (old vines). The wine tastes like spiced red berries with a peppery finish. Ask for Vieilles Vignes (50+ year-old vines)—dramatically more complex. Best producers: Domaine Louis Magnin (yields of just 15hl/ha vs 35 for Grand Cru Burgundy!) or Fabien Trosset (5th generation, grows ONLY Mondeuse).

   🔄 BACKUP: Any Mondeuse from Arbin is excellent. Price: €12-20/glass. You'll be drinking something 99% of the restaurant has never heard of.

   🍷 Log Memory