The energetic and charismatic Guillaume Gonnet is not your average Rhône winemaker. Extremely open in his attitude, his curious, boundary challenging approach extends beyond wine.
He travelled to the far ends of the earth, reveling in the opportunity to surf some of the best waves in the world while learning his craft in various Australian and New Zealand regions. Returning to the Rhône, now with his Australian wife Kelly, Guillaume has shown similar energy for his family estate and for his own nascent project. This land locked surfer may be miles from the ocean but is happily riding the wave of new found enthusiasm for Grenache based wines. Pursuing biodynamics wherever possible, allowing his fruit to express itself freely through hands-off winemaking and displaying his fascination for the varying soils of the Rhône through his diverse range of wines, he’s just the sort of restless creative that we love to work with.
Viticulture: The vineyards are composed of light clay and sandy soils with vines grown on terraces. The vines are around 40 to 50 years old and are on a North facing slope and planted at 4000 vines per Ha. Handpicked grapes.
Winemaking: 100% de-stemmed, with a 15 to 20 day fermentation and maceration in stainless steel with natural yeasts. No malolactic fermentation. 12 months ageing in stainless steel.