+ History

Gilles Berlioz inherited a small family farm and vineyard in 1990. In the beginning, he worked in landscaping and managed the vineyard in his spare time. Over the next decade he grew the vineyard to 7HA and dedicated his life full time to wine. In the late 1990's Gilles began to embrace organic farming. After converting completely to organic, he decided the domaine was too big to farm and manage properly, so he sold off some of the vines. Today he is certifid biodynamic and has renamed the entity to Domaine Partagé - reflecting that it is a shared process between he, his wife Christine, his workers, the land, etc. From an outide perspective (ours), it appears that Gilles and Christine have moved steadily in the direction of true sustainability in all aspects of the domaine. The farming, the winemaking, the business relationships, the community relationships, etc. This is something we admire greatly. Our partnership with Gilles and Christine is new, so we are still getting to know them, but they both are clearly very in-tune with nature. Our stroll through the vineyards was peaceful and informative and moved at the pace of nature. Some vignerons appear at home in the cellar, pulling samples from barrels and pouring tastes for us. Gilles and Christine were obviously more comfortable and happy among the vines. This is something else we admire greatly.

+ Wine Story

This is a perfect entry to the wines of Gilles Berlioz. It is the easist to fall for. It is the least unusual, but far from ordinary. More texture than one would normally find in wines made from Jacquère and also more length and depth. It's easy to drink the whole bottle before you realize just how impressive this wine is.

+ Technical Details

VARIETIES: 100% Jacquère
VINEYARDS: 37 year old estate vineyards, lieu diet Les Frettes. Silt and alluvial clay over limestone soils. 400 meters elevation, 50% grade. Southeast aspect.
FARMING: Certified Biodynamic. Nearly all farming done by hand or horse.
WINEMAKING: Fermentation occurs in fiberglass eggs lying on their sides, 'as they do in nature'. Gilles believes they have better energy transfer in this position. No batonnage, no racking until the wine is finished. No fining, no filtering. Minimal SO2.