New Chinon - Domaine Des Freres
Bonjour winefriend,
All Cabernet Franc
We recently received the wines. Some are more ready than others. We recommend to start with the light ones Perou or Pucelles. We believe Moulin de Beau Puy and Les Puys has a nice ageing potential, so keep it a bit.
From engineering to winemaking
Henri and Valentin are brothers… They grew up near Chinon. Both were engineers, and worked as such for several years. Luckily for us, they later on found out that working in an office wasn’t for them.
Passionated about wine, Henri was the first to take the plunge. In 2013, he went back to school and obtained his BTS in viticulture and oenology in Bergerac. Degree in hand, he began his personal Tour de France… Sud-Ouest, Loir et Cher, Touraine…working with and learning from some of the best winemakers in France. Most notable of these years was his time spent with Patrick Corbineau, who became his mentor.
Valentin followed in 2015, obtaining his own BTS from Mâcon. He worked first with Yvon and Jules Métras, whom he still calls and consults. He also worked with and learned from other excellent wine producers call Philippe Chigard and Bernard Baudry. In the transition from working in an office to making wine, they moved numerous times exploring the wine regions of France. After 18 months at looking for the best vines they could get, they found 11 hectares of old vines on hills. Following the financial help of 24 of their friends and relatives they were able to invest 170,000 euros and proceed to the next stage of the adventure. First bottling happened in December 2020 with Vintage 2019.
Minimal intervention
When we met Henri and Valentin on this years fair 'Vin des mes Amis', they spent the first 10 minutes, proudly explaining and showing the different soil types they are working with. They have a real passion for terroir ;)
The winery consists of 11ha divided into seven parcels: Le Pérou, Les Picasses, Les Moulins de Beau Puy, Les Pucelles, La Roche Bobreau, Les Puys and Les Chaineaux. All the vines are planted on slopes and 80% of them are from massale selection. The brothers do two types of pruning to limit Esca; gobelet for the Chenin Blanc and guyot poussard for the Cabernet Franc. They do not plow and avoid packing the soil, therefore they only come twice during the year with a 1.9T tractor (usually 3T) for the hilling up and the taking away. The rest of the time they use quads to spray organic treatments. They rely a lot on observation. Each parcel has organic plants which indicate if the soil is alive or not. For instance on the Pérou parcel some maritime pines mixed with the sandy soil showed a lack of organic matter; the solution was to apply a mix of animal compost (horse/cow). They trim the vines only once per year (compared to the 3-4 times for most winemakers). This technique provides each vine with a maximum number of leaves, thus aiding photosynthesis and improving the aromatic complexity of the fruit.
All the wines are made based on their terroirs with the idea of minimum intervention but precision. Everything is followed and tasted to make sure the wines are ageing well.
Curious to try?
Join next weeks Wine Night Stand · 26.5.22 with the four wines, visit us in our shop on Ravnsborggade or let us ship the wines to you.
Best regards,
Marius, Simon & Hugo
All Cabernet Franc
We recently received the wines. Some are more ready than others. We recommend to start with the light ones Perou or Pucelles. We believe Moulin de Beau Puy and Les Puys has a nice ageing potential, so keep it a bit.
From engineering to winemaking
Henri and Valentin are brothers… They grew up near Chinon. Both were engineers, and worked as such for several years. Luckily for us, they later on found out that working in an office wasn’t for them.
Passionated about wine, Henri was the first to take the plunge. In 2013, he went back to school and obtained his BTS in viticulture and oenology in Bergerac. Degree in hand, he began his personal Tour de France… Sud-Ouest, Loir et Cher, Touraine…working with and learning from some of the best winemakers in France. Most notable of these years was his time spent with Patrick Corbineau, who became his mentor.
Valentin followed in 2015, obtaining his own BTS from Mâcon. He worked first with Yvon and Jules Métras, whom he still calls and consults. He also worked with and learned from other excellent wine producers call Philippe Chigard and Bernard Baudry. In the transition from working in an office to making wine, they moved numerous times exploring the wine regions of France. After 18 months at looking for the best vines they could get, they found 11 hectares of old vines on hills. Following the financial help of 24 of their friends and relatives they were able to invest 170,000 euros and proceed to the next stage of the adventure. First bottling happened in December 2020 with Vintage 2019.
Minimal intervention
When we met Henri and Valentin on this years fair 'Vin des mes Amis', they spent the first 10 minutes, proudly explaining and showing the different soil types they are working with. They have a real passion for terroir ;)
The winery consists of 11ha divided into seven parcels: Le Pérou, Les Picasses, Les Moulins de Beau Puy, Les Pucelles, La Roche Bobreau, Les Puys and Les Chaineaux. All the vines are planted on slopes and 80% of them are from massale selection. The brothers do two types of pruning to limit Esca; gobelet for the Chenin Blanc and guyot poussard for the Cabernet Franc. They do not plow and avoid packing the soil, therefore they only come twice during the year with a 1.9T tractor (usually 3T) for the hilling up and the taking away. The rest of the time they use quads to spray organic treatments. They rely a lot on observation. Each parcel has organic plants which indicate if the soil is alive or not. For instance on the Pérou parcel some maritime pines mixed with the sandy soil showed a lack of organic matter; the solution was to apply a mix of animal compost (horse/cow). They trim the vines only once per year (compared to the 3-4 times for most winemakers). This technique provides each vine with a maximum number of leaves, thus aiding photosynthesis and improving the aromatic complexity of the fruit.
All the wines are made based on their terroirs with the idea of minimum intervention but precision. Everything is followed and tasted to make sure the wines are ageing well.
Curious to try?
Join next weeks Wine Night Stand · 26.5.22 with the four wines, visit us in our shop on Ravnsborggade or let us ship the wines to you.
Best regards,
Marius, Simon & Hugo
