Sleeping Beauty
The estate remained active until the owner retired in 1990. He leased the vines to a winegrower from Saint-Pourçain and locked the winery.
The Clos de Breuilly goes to sleep…
In 2018, Denis Barbara, the winemaker for the Grosbot-Barbara estate, who works tirelessly to dust off the coat of arms of Saint-Pourçain wine, took William to see the Clos de Breuilly:
Look at this sleeping beauty… we have to wake her up!
Here comes Prince Charming, and there is four of them: William and Ambroise, with the help of Charles and Adrien.
A team was also needed: Brian, Denis’s son, became the cellar master at the age of 25 after his studies in Beaune (Burgundy) and a few years of apprenticeship in Meursault with Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau. Manu brings his valuable experience in viticulture.
In January 2020, Sleeping Beauty wakes up.
Two years later, the renovated winery is bright and functional, and the vines meticulously tended to produce healthy and concentrated grapes.
The Vineyard
The vineyard is enclosed by walls and planted on a gentle-sloped hill facing south east. It is situated at an altitude of about 350 metres / 380 yards and benefits from a lovely view of the Chaîne des Puys and the Forez mountains.
Two small plots of vine, the Monts and the Clos du Roc, can also be found close to the main vineyard.
The estate’s vines are between 20 and 70 years old and have been organically cultivated since 2006. The soil is mainly sands and clay-silty above a subsoil of altered granitic and metamorphic rocks known as gneiss. Our red wines are made with Pinot noir and Gamay, and our white wines are made with Chardonnay and Tressallier.
In 2023, we purchased La Treille, a small plot planted with Tressallier and Saint Pierre doré on clay-limestone soil, 3 km from Clos de Breuilly.
Mont Georges
We have joined forces with the Nebout and Grosbot-Barbara estates and have replanted five acres of vines in the hamlet of Mont-Georges in November 2020. Mont Georges is situated on a steep hill with clay-limestone soil and has the potential to produce the future Premiers Crus and Grands Crus of Saint-Pourçain.
Four additional hectares will be planted on this hill by 2025, mainly in Tressallier.
Viticulture
To make good wine, you must start with beautiful grapes, which will be all the healthier when the earth is alive and healthy. We want our wine to express the quintessence of the terroir.
Ever since taking over the estate, we have tilled the soil mechanically and treated the vines with natural products. We limit yields according to the grape varieties and the age of the vines by appropriate pruning and severe disbudding.
The Harvest
The grapes are harvested by hand and strictly sorted at the vine. They are then quickly taken to the winery in 30 kg crates to preserve their freshness.
An enthusiastic team of grape pickers takes part in this unforgettable human adventure for around ten days. The “rate”, like the paulée in Burgundy, celebrates the end of the harvest.
Vinification
For the 2020 vintage, the Grosbot-Barbara shared their winery with us and let us make the wine there while our own winery was under construction.
Since 2021 our wines are made in the Clos’ entirely refurbished winery. Our main aim as far as vinification is concerned is to intervene as little as possible so that our wines reveals their terroir.
When the quality of the harvest allows it, the estate’s wines are neither fined, nor filtered, and no sulfites are added.
Maturation
“It is not enough to make your wine well, you also have to age it well” said Henri Jayer.
Depending on the cuvée, our wines patiently mature during one to three years in our cellar. This maturation completes the work started in the vineyard.
We have 228l and 400l oak barrels, 750l terracotta jars and concrete eggs for maturation.