At 25, they decide to buy their estate and produce their wine using organic farming. Meet Franck and Véronique!
How would you describe yourselves?
We are passionate, we love meeting people and sharing good times with our friends and loved ones.
How did you get into viticulture?
Franck : Véronique and I met at agricultural college. ️My parents weren't winegrowers and I ended up here because I had a real connection to nature. My uncle was a winegrower and I used to spend my holidays at his place; that's where I started working in the vineyard!
Véronique : My father sold wine but he wasn't a winegrower. Then when I started agricultural college, I liked it and wanted to continue in the field.
What is the story of the Château ?
V : At the beginning of the adventure, we looked to buy a few hectares of vines to produce our wine. We quickly realized that it was a lot of work!
F : We were 25 at the time and we thought we knew a lot of things but looking back today, I see that we have learned a lot! (laughs) So we visited 4 or 5 properties, we wanted to find an estate where we could make a good wine with a very good terroir. We bought this Estate in 2006 where wine had been produced for 60 years. It is an Estate that still required a lot of restoration work: we started almost from scratch here.
What makes you get up in the morning?
V : Working for yourself is something that motivates you!
F : We have the chance to choose our schedules and our activities. We have the chance to do what we want!
- Why choose to be certified organic?
V : The estate was already organic when we bought it, we really wanted to continue. At school and during our internships we were never told about organic farming. So, for the first 4 years, a technician was our organic advisor who followed and supported us. It quickly became obvious to us to be in organic farming !
- In 3 words, how would you characterize your wine?
We make red wines that are quite light and fruity. It goes well with everything! It is an everyday wine, which should be avoided with dishes that are too heavy in sauce. It is a blend of 60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet, 20% Malbec, the Merlot will bring that light, silky and fruity side. The Cabernet will bring structure to the wine and the Malbec will give spicy flavors.
- What are the Estate's projects?
One of our projects is to look into biodynamics. We are going to implement things in that direction in the vineyard. We also need to expand the buildings because we lack storage space. We also have the idea of building a gîte next to the estate!
