Corentin Houillon grew up around wine before he chose it as a profession. Nephew of Emmanuel Houillon, Pierre Overnoy's historic partner in the Jura, Corentin trained across some of natural wine's most respected addresses, working with Stéphane Tissot in the Jura and Dominique Derain in Burgundy, along with a stint in New Zealand's conventional wine industry that only sharpened his conviction to do things differently. In 2019 he settled in Serrières-en-Chautagne, in the northern reaches of Savoie, taking over five hectares of a ten-hectare estate previously run by Alain Bosson at the Domaine de Veronnet. The rest of the vineyard passed to other young organic growers in the region, including Florian and Marie Curtet. Corentin wanted to work alone and control every part of the process, from vine to bottle.

Veronnet takes its name from that original estate and from the lieu-dit where the vines grow, on quaternary molasse soils of calcareous sandstone and quartz sand along the banks of the Rhône, in the shadow of the Chautagne massif. This cuvée blends Altesse and Jacquère in roughly equal parts, the two grapes co-fermented together rather than blended after the fact, a technique that lets their aromatic and textural profiles merge from the very start of fermentation. The wine is aged in concrete tank on fine lees until bottling, with no added sulphur and no filtration.

The result is fresh, citrusy and faintly smoky on the nose, with white flowers and a touch of roasted almond in more textured vintages. On the palate it is lively, tonic and taut, finishing saline and salivating. It is the kind of white built entirely around freshness and immediacy rather than weight, ideal served cool at the apéritif, alongside charcuterie and Savoyard cheeses, or with a proper fondue. Drink young to enjoy its energy at its peak.