“Most exciting new producer.”
By virtue of its rugged mountain geology, La Verrière is a demanding environment for vines. But their fight to survive causes them to achieve qualities unimaginable in more vine-friendly environments.
Wild abandoned vineyards are a magnet for people prepared to challenge themselves, work in extreme conditions, and push to the limit to master their craft and forge a new path.
Thinking about future generations.
Our team must go beyond our own boundaries, find the strength to harness the forces of nature, and the acuity to extract from them the purest juice. ‘Aut caesar, aut nihil’; it’s all or nothing! Passion is necessary but not sufficient — it requires obsession and an uncompromising pursuit of excellence.
The iterative process of viticulture and winemaking forces you to test your limits; the self-knowledge gained enabling you to recognise your purpose. By improving your wine you hope to improve yourself and, above all, increase the enjoyment that your work brings to others.
Dentelles de Montmirail viewed from the other side of the St.Amand
Greater purity of flavor, greater nuance, greater finesse, greater aging potential… Since we began, the sustainable practices at the heart of our work have brought many challenges and expenses, as we aim for a harmonious marriage of sustainable viticulture and precision winemaking.
These are not opposing goals. We tailor our winemaking through craft and technology to harness nature rather than resort to chemicals. Our SustainaBEElity campaign aims to do just that. For full details about our sustainability initiatives, please see our dedicated page.
Our Regenerative approach to integrate nature and history.
Chêne Bleu is a modern winery but its roots are ancient. In order to leave the land in a better condition than that in which it was entrusted to us, we ignore short-term commercial goals. This affects the timeline of our investments, our choice of commercial partners, and even the very foundation of the community of like-minded people growing alongside our vines.
It’s not just about rehabilitating the landscape but creating a fruitful future for this thousand-year-old estate. We aim to design our destiny; to use imagination and innovation; to create a wine hub that fuels an experimental approach. Indeed, to push the boundaries of thought. And this is only the beginning. A new chapter is always being written.
Clive Barlow MW leads a masterclass on the newfound Ventoux region.
Our loosely defined Ventoux region in the South of France, with its rugged landscapes, has been attracting a lot of new talent these last few years. Mont Ventoux towers over its terrific micro-terroirs. This presents a wonderful opportunity to showcase interesting fruit character, lovely freshness and elegance.
This is especially true at altitude, due to lower-than-average Rhône temperatures. These exceptional conditions convince us, and others, of the bright future of our region for producing fine wine. It’s time for these terrific terroirs to show the world why Ventoux deserves a seat at the table of the Grand Crus.
Medieval-meets-Modern in the winery
Medieval-meets-Modern in the winery
The Roman ancestry and ancient winemaking history of the region, and of our property, inspires our ‘medieval-meets-modern’ approach. It also fuels our wish to reconcile binaries — old and new, local and global, natural and technological — to complement each other.
Hosting the Grenache symposium 2010, chaired by the beloved Steven Spurrier and Michel Bettane.
‘Not Mine, Not Yours, But Ours’. The search for this common ground underpins our desire to collaborate, rather than compete. We associate with experts, scientists, artists, clients and other winemakers, seeking connections with those motivated by similar values. We wish for Chêne Bleu to be a welcoming, inclusive, diverse, tolerant and safe ‘Planète’ for all of these stars to align.
These values, combined with our drive to do our part for the wine world, have led us to co-found and host the first International Grenache Symposium, the Grenache Association, the Fine Minds 4 Fine Wines, and most recently the ARENI Global Institute of the Future of Fine Wine.
Few things make us happier than to use the landscape as a canvas for artists who share our vision.
“...the epitome of elegance and class in the wine industry....attention to detail on literally every little thing from winemaking, branding, etc makes Chene Bleu one of the top wineries in the world.”
