The Domaine

A story of pioneers

The Clos des Vignes du Maynes was first recorded on cadastral maps by Burgundian monks. Its origin dates back to 910, the year Cluny Abbey was founded by the Duke of Aquitaine. The domaine was originally owned by the seigneurs of the Château of Cruzille, and then belonged to a farming family for five generations before being bought by Pierre and Jeanne Guillot in 1952. The vineyard has therefore never had any chemicals used on it and has always been farmed with the greatest respect for the earth. From the very outset, my grandfather decided to make wine organically, using no chemicals, herbicides, pesticides or sulphur. My father, Alain, later took over the domaine, keeping the same philosophy. He lectured at the agricultural college in Beaujeu, alongside Suzanne Michon, Xavier Florin, Claude and Lydia Bourguignon and Pierre Rabhi, and was particularly involved in the legislative aspects of organic agriculture. As President of the French national federation of organic agriculture (FNAB), he was responsible for getting the AB (agriculture biologique) organic logo and standards recognised by the then Minister of Agriculture, Philippe Vasseur. I joined the domaine in 1998, which is when I introduced the first biodynamic preparations. I then took over the domaine officially in 2001 and decided to convert the entire vineyard of seven hectares to biodynamic farming.

julien-team

Membre_PearlPearl

Pearl, 35, sees herself as a Canadian ‘hybrid’ with German and native Cree roots. She has worked at the domaine for four years. She is my right-hand woman: she spends half her time managing the cellar (racking and other wine-related tasks) and the other half working in the vineyard. Pearl is an expert in the Guyot Poussard pruning method, and she leads the team for the manual vineyard work. In her spare time, she loves to tango!

Membre_DDVM

Sandrine

Sandrine, 38 and 100% Burgundian, joined us is 2015 and is responsible for all the administrative work. She loves her two kids and cooking for the family. She enjoys spending her Sunday afternoons on the side lines of the Rugby field cheering on her husband and son!

Julien

40 years old, Julien is in charge of tillage, treatments and biodynamic preparations. Previously a site manager in public works, he is an expert in Triathlon.

Membre_DDVM

Caroline & Thibault

Caroline and Thibault, 36 and 37 respectively, undertake the ploughing, using their two magnificent Comtois horses, Sara and Quiqui.