One of the lovely things about the wine business, is that you meet such delightful people. And just about the most delightful on the planet are Dominique and Baptiste Grangeon, a fantastically talented brother and sister team, hand crafting stunning wines in a tiny cellar in their parents back garden.
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- Dominique and Baptiste with Fran
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- Baptiste with one of their ancient fermenters
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- Dominique doing a tasting for us
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- Our dinner at Dominique’s lovely house in an old convent
What makes them so special?
Dominique and Baptiste are refreshingly rare in the wine trade…superstars whose top wines sell for £50 a bottle and get 98 point rating from Robert Parker. And yet they still get a kick out of producing a brilliant £7 Vin du Pays for us!
It’s a bit like getting Ferrari to make you a little run around that you can use e very day – the best technical skills that money can buy – at a price you can use every day!
How did they get going
Dominique’s gran was a very eligible lady who inherited 2 hectares of Châteauneuf 50 years ago. And for the next 40 years they grew great grapes, made great wine…and then sold it to a Negociant who made a killing on it
When Dominique and Baptise took over the farm, they bottled the wines as Cristia for the very first time…and immediately went to number 1 with their debut vintage! Unlike some, they never let it go to their heads and have kept making great wines from more humble appellations, at very realistic prices[]
Why do the wines taste so good?
Because they work so hard. On the day we turned up to see them, Baptise was in the vineyard at 5am and Dominique was in the office till 10pm. Everything they do they want to do brilliantly – whether it is their £x flagship or their scrummy rose (which I am drinking as I type this!)
Alain, the father still works in the vineyards – as does granddad who is 89. Which says something a bout the life giving qualities of good French wines!).
Why don’t they cost more?
Because they make so much money selling their Chateauneuf, they can afford to sell thier VdP at a very sensible price. Wine buyers pay over the odds for Châteauneuf, and ignore humbler appellations which grow the same grapes in the same soils
They love chatting to their customers, so please post on their wall or pop in to see them should you find yourself in Courthezon (which sounds disturbingly like cortisone I know)
