• Estate •
A Quick Introduction
Becoming a winegrower is a great adventure that began for us 20 years ago; a dream for those who have no family background in vineyards or wine but are just passionate wine lovers. Step by step, we have created a 12-hectare estate today in the appellation of Brézème located in the northern Rhône and in the Ardèche just next door, in the Ouvèze valley. Our approach and philosophy are born from personal journeys, readings, meetings with emblematic winemakers around the world and unconventional farmers.
Our Undisclosed Vineyards
The estate consists of two very distinct terroirs in the northern Rhône valley - Brézème in the Drôme (left bank of the Rhône) and the Ouvèze valley in the Ardèche (right bank), two areas well identified on wine maps of the Rhône. However, due to their small size and geographic isolation, they are almost forgotten when talking about the region.
Brézème is a limestone hillside facing south, the last ridge of the Vercors at the mouth of the Drôme river. The Ouvèze valley, on the Ardèche side, marks the geological separation between the Massif Central and the Cévennes. The vineyard, facing south, is a granitic flank with a mixture of schist and gneiss on its surface and islands of limestone.
Living Soils and Living Wines
We have been working in organic agriculture since the beginning and our farming methods are directed towards agro-ecology (cover-crops, no ploughing, manual work, etc.). On both sides of the Rhône, the vines are between 30 and 90 years old, and new plantings are slowly coming into production for the white grape varieties, Roussanne and Clairette.
Our winemaking style is traditional and very minimalist: indigenous yeasts, whole bunch maceration, no sulfur on the grapes or on the must, aging in concrete tanks or in foudres for 10 to 48 months depending on the cuvées, and no filtration or fining. The use of sulfites at bottling is possible without being systematic, always at a minimum and depending on the cuvée, the vintage and the terroir. Approximately 20% of the wines can be bottled without sulfites (without it being a matter of principle).
Our Wines
Most of our wines come from the vineyards of Brézème and the Ouvèze valley, today worked by our son Martin. We also produce some Côte Rôtie and both a red and white Châteauneuf du Pape by buying grapes from friends with the same work philosophy (traditional vine growing, mechanical weeding, copper and sulfur only).
The Perfect Cellar
Finding a cellar that would suit our needs has been a challenge. It is only in 2020 that Martin could undertake the construction of a real cellar at the foot of the vineyards. In the meantime, we separated the wine-making cellar in Brézème and the aging cellar in Charnay, north of Lyon, where the family home is. The underground cellar in Charnay, dating back to the 16th century, offers us an ideal place to age our wines in foudres, demi-muids or concrete vats.
Always Learning
Every year, we put all of our efforts into making wines that taste like what they are, driven by the terroir and the vintage. Even today, we feel that we have a lot to learn about our soils, our wines and the nature that surrounds us in ord
er to better share and transmit it. We want to act so that the vines and the wines overcome the great environmental and climatic changes ahead of us. We want to re-introduce historical grape varieties that can adapt to the weather, to learn and implement the peasant gestures of grafting, of marcottage and to help the soils nourish and fortify the vines. This is still the beginning of a long story.