Savoyard by birth – and proud to be so, even if his surname is originally from Burgundy (although present in Savoie since the 5^th C!) – Bernard Vissoud was a real globe-trotter until he settled back at home. Having been awarded a viticulture and wine diploma in Beaune, I couldn’t find a job in the sector and so decided to take my medium mountain guide diploma. I moved around a bit, working for about 15 years for the adventure department of Club Méditerranée and then for Allibert before becoming manager of Pédibus in the Chartreuse until 2000. In 1996, I launched the first wine hikes for Pédibus. And in 2001, I started working for myself using the same concept for my company Alpes Flaveurs which is based at Les Marches in Savoie. This is the largest wine producing area in the department, with 300 hectares of Abymes and Apremont grapes… .

The idea came out of his childhood memories. Here we’re mountain wine growers… we have a few vines, a few cows and a dairy. And when I was just a little boy, my teacher was also a wine grower and a high mountain guide. When we came back from walks that he’d organised, we used to stop off at the wine cellar belonging to a friend of his to eat a bit of cheese and gulp back a little wine! When I was older, I realised that visitors to the region find it difficult to think of Savoie as a wine-producing area, yet a recent DNA test has proved that syrah wine comes from the cross breeding of white mondeuse grapes and duresaz… .

Encouraged by this knowledge and his wealth of experience, Bernard Vissoud went on to launch Alpes Flaveurs and his series of hikes, combining the mountain environment with the study of wines, are renowned throughout the world. Most of them take place in Les Bauges and La Chartreuse. But sometimes he’ll venture to the Bugey or even the Val d’Aoste. Our wines are what they are because of our regions’ distinctive characters, he explains. I offer companies a series of themed hikes or conferences at the place where they hold their meetings, such as the Cirque de Saint-Même or the Refuge du Roc de la Pêche in the Tarentaise, with the aim of demystifying the art of wine tasting and prove that it can be both a learning experience as well as a pleasure .

Wine evenings are the most popular product offered by Alpes Flaveurs. It lasts about three hours, introducing the Savoie’s Préalpes, the region’s gastronomic traditions, the basic elements of studying wine and the techniques required for tasting wine. This is followed by a tasting of between five and eight of the best Savoie wines including, sometimes, an over-matured wine (ie, a late-harvest wine). These products suit groups of between eight and 50 participants, and can be delivered in either French or English, if required. They can also be followed by visits to wine cellars with a traditional Savoyard meal on site. Bernard Vissoud works mostly in the Savoie and Isère regions, but can also travel within France or even abroad.

Corporate clients make up 70% of my business because, these days, they are looking for entertaining, fun products rather than athletics challenges he notes. 100% of companies who have used my services have been totally satisfied…

The fee for a three hour session at a hotel is 235 € for a group of 11-15 people plus an extra 11-14.50 € per participant for a tasting of between five and seven vintages. If the timetable is more restricted, Bernard Vissoud can also offer shorter conferences. Another popular option is the organisation of tastings (with or without a meal) at a vineyard. The fee for this is 225 € per person, to which 11 € per person needs to be added for a tasting of eight vintages. The traditional winegrower’s meal (diots, local sausages stuffed with vine shoots, cooked in wine, cheese, dessert and wine), costs 21.50 € per head. For a cold snack of meats, cheese, wine and coffee, the cost is 16 €.