Moore Brothers Blog: producers

Bele Casel

winegrowers David Moore

Luca Ferraro, his mother, Antonella, his sister, Paola, and his wife, Giulana Danilo Ferraro set out with the goal of producing fine, estate-bottled Prosecco in the early 1980s when he was an oenology student. His father-in-law had a hectare of old Glera (the grape that used to be known as Prosecco) and Malvasia, and sold the wine in in demijohn to locals.  After completing his studies, Danilo went to work at a nearby distillery, and helped his father-in-law in the vineyard in his spare time. He soon realized that Prosecco was the “heart and soul” of the Colli Asolani, and set out to establish what has become the leading estate in the region.  When we met him, his tiny winery was about the size of an American, two-car garage–producing the best Prosecco we’d ever tasted. Today Danilo continues the work with his son Luca, who oversees the organic farming of their vineyards…and the winery is a little larger, just off of the family home. Here's an Italian television

Château Viella

winegrowers Greg Moore

Alain Bortolussi and his family in Madiran In 1952, Alain Bortolussi's grandfather, an immigrant from the Veneto, purchased the eighteenth-century château and the surrounding 25 hectares of vines, which had just been classified under AOC regulations as Madiran and Pacherenc du Vic Bilh. At the time, it had almost no value. Over the next thirty-five years, most of the estate was replanted with the best clones of Tannat and Cabernet Franc for the Madiran, along with a tiny one-hectare parcel of local white varieties for the Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh. Alain, who is the first to bottle wine at the estate, took charge in 1991. When we met him in 2013, he was just completing the restoration of the château. In 2016, his daughters, Claire, and Marion, joined Alain at Château Viella, and in 2019, on Alain’s nominal “retirement,” have taken the reins of this jewel of a winegrowing estate.

Château Sipian

winegrowers Greg Moore

Frédéric Méhaye The estate lies on a privileged location: atop a rare mound of Garonnaise gravel, looking directly down on the Gironde estuary. Château Sipian had always been classified a Cru Bourgeois of the Médoc, until the vineyards were pulled up and abandoned in the 1950s. Bernard and Nicole Méhaye purchased the estate in 1978, and planted the first seven hectares of Merlot. But the real history of Château Sipian begins with their son Frédéric, whose risk-taking vision and hard work have lifted the estate into the front rank of Médoc producers. Today, Frédéric’s son, Quentin Méhaye, has taken over responsibility for much of the work in the twenty-five hectares of mostly 30-year-old vines.

Agricola Ca’ La Bionda

winegrowers Greg Moore

Alessandro Castellani in the Casal Vegri vineyard Ca’ La Bionda was founded in 1902 by Pietro Castellani, Alessandro’s great grandfather, who was a passionate grape grower and winemaker. The east facing hillside vineyards extend over 29 hectares in the commune of Marano di Valpolicella, northwest of Verona, in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico zone. Only traditional varieties, including Corvina Veronese, Corvinone, and Rondinella are grown (there are no international varieties), and the farming is entirely organic. Particular attention and care are given to the delicate process of drying the grapes for the production of the Amarone and the sweet Reciotto.

Mas de Libian

winegrowers Greg Moore

Catherine Thibon and Nestor Jean-Pierre Thibon’s family has operated the Mas de Libian in Saint-Marcel d’Ardèche since 1670. He and his cardiologist wife, Jacqueline, have three daughters: Hélène, Catherine, and Cécile. In 1995, Hélène, Catherine, and Hélène’s husband Alain Macagno assumed responsibility for viticulture and winemaking, and began to estate-bottle the wine, rather than sell it in bulk to négociants. Long before it was fashionable, the Mas de Libian was an organic farm, and in 2005 Hélène introduced the demanding practice of biodynamics. Catherine does much of the vineyard work herself, with the help of “Nestor,” a charming Comptois draft horse who is encouraged by his canine stable mates “Sophia” and “Éclair.”

Trousse-Chemise

winegrowers Greg Moore

Anne Sery Martindale in Oregon Anne Sery Martindale was born on the island of Réunion, an overseas French Department in the Indian Ocean about 450 miles east of Madagascar. Her father was a diplomat and a serious collector of Burgundy, so the family dinner table often featured bottles from producers like Ghislaine Barthod, Christophe Roumier, and Louis Boillot, which sparked Anne’s own passion for Pinot Noir, and led her to pursue winemaking as a profession. In 2008, after graduating from the Faculté de Bordeaux, where she studied with the famed enologist Denis Dubourdieu, Anne moved to Oregon, and continued her training with Laurent Montalieu at Soléna Estate in Yamhill. Currently, Anne is a winemaker at NW Wine Company in McMinnville, which gives her access to some of the best grapes in Oregon, as well as a state of the art facility for custom winemaking.

Domaine Jaume

winegrowers Greg Moore

Richard, Anthony, and Pascal Jaume in Vinsobres The modern history of this eighty-hectare estate in Vinsobres began with Henri Chauvet and Baron Le Roy, who, in the 1920s, introduced the idea of “appellation contrôlée” in France. Henri Chauvet’s son-in-law Pierre Jaume was the driving force in the development of the estate, but it was Pierre’s son Claude who was the first to estate-bottle the wines.Grandsons Pascal and Richard took over in the 1980s, and have continued to enlarge and improve Domaine Jaume; with carefully considered purchases, like the vineyard they call “Altitude 420,” and the “Clos des Échelas.” Richard’s son Anthony joined them in 2010. The estate’s unwavering commitment to sustainable, organic viticulture is outlined in its “Charter Vinéa Natura,” which every producer in the world should adopt.

Domaine Henri Germain

winegrowers Greg Moore

Jean-François Germain in Meursault Perrières Henri Germain established his Domaine in 1973, when he left Château de Chorey les Beaune and moved to Meursault. The first vineyard was a small parcel in Meursault Charmes, but the estate grew substantially when Henri married Paulette Pillot, who had inherited vineyards in Chassagne-Montrachet, including an exceptional parcel in the sub-climat of Fairendes in Morgeot. Today there are eight hectares of vines in Meursault, Beaune, and Chassagne-Montrachet, producing about 30,000 bottles annually, of which 70% is white wine. Henri Germain retired years ago, but his modest, soft-spoken son, Jean-François, continues the production of some of the finest wines in all of the Côte de Beaune.

Château Reverdi

winegrowers Greg Moore

Mathieu and Audrey Thomas in the cellar Château Reverdi lies in Listrac, the smallest of six communes in the Médoc which give their names to their wines. Of special interest is that 15% of the vineyard is planted to Petit Verdot, the rare, thick skinned, low pH variety which contributes racy aromatic complexity, freshness, and longevity, and is admired for the role it plays in some of the greatest wines of Margaux. No doubt Château Reverdi would be better known if the wine were sold on the Place de Bordeaux. But Mathieu Thomas and his sister Audrey, who took charge of the family estate in 2002, have seen how the lives of their friends in Burgundy, Alsace, and the Loire have been enriched by their personal relationships with their customers.

Azienda Agricola Andreas Baron Widmann

winegrowers David Moore

Andreas Widmann Andreas Widmann produces small quantities of pristine wine from eight hectares of land perched on hillsides above the Strada del Vino in Caldaro, Alto Adige. His beautiful house and cellar are in the old part of Cortaccia, very near his family's original residence, where they have lived and farmed (not just wine grapes—Andreas also oversees several hectares of apple and cherry orchards) since 1824.