Thierry Valette is from wine making stock, in fact his family owned Chateau Pavie (and Troplong Mondot) for a generation before the vineyards and cellars were sold by his father in the 1998. Thierry still talks with reverence about the wines and the vines here, and his passion and empathy for the place is palpable. He however, took another path, and those of you who are familiar with French jazz singers will know him as one of the legends of the genre, a man who exuded class and style and who’s career allowed him to forge a name for himself without the shadow of his family’s interests over him. But of course the pull of the vineyards was too strong and he returned to Belvèsde-Castillon (20 km east of Libourne), down the road from St Emilion, in 2000 when he purchased this run down domaine, built in 1871 (although it used to be classified as St Emilion).

Thierry naturally lent toward the natural methodology of working his vineyards and was a key part of the renaissance of biodiversity in the vineyards. This is Bordeaux, not the Loire, so he was also a pioneer in these days, very much at the forefront of Demeter conversion and exclusion of chemical usage in the vines and the cellar. He works all his vineyards, located on the Castillon shelf, by hand or horse, and has, over time brought back to life over 15 hectares in total, all either on the plateau of clay and limestone or on the more variable limestone, alluvial and clay soils of the cotes. He has added more Carmenere to his plantings, reducing the percentage of Cabernet Franc and as his range broadens, he is also making more parcel selections and single varietal wines. The ferments tend to be destemmed but not crushed, and Thierry has introduced more clay Amphora and larger oak in order to preserve freshness in his wines. This is evidenced in the fact that they all drink beautifully when young, as well as age seamlessly too.