The Sparkling Whites of Champagne and the High Alps

The cellar of the Auberge listed at least a few bottles of the finest cuvées, names and vintages of Champagne, but when a guest was less concerned with the prestige of the label and more with the matter of cost, Mademoiselle Vivette served (as I do at home) the sparkling vin du pays of her own region—the charming, light-as-a-mountain breeze, dry and sparkling wines of the High Savoy, the Seyssel Blanc de Blancs from the little mountain town of that name above the Valley of the Rhone, near the point where the great river enters France from Switzerland. Seyssel sparklers always seem to be among the best of “bubbly” values.