Moore Brothers Blog: producers

Château Roque le Mayne

winegrowers Greg Moore

Jean-François Meynard Château Roque Le Mayne has been in the Meynard family for three generations. The property is on gently rolling hills of Castillon, a “satellite” of Saint-Emilion. Jean-François Meynard is the current proprietor, managing his 14 hectares with in “lutte raisonée,” and harvesting manually with (some would say) obsessive sorting when the fruit arrives at the winery. The vines grow on the clay-limestone plateau above the right bank of the Dordogne, on the same ridge, and only a few kilometers away from vineyards that produce the most expensive wines in Saint-Émilion.

Diego Bolognani

winegrowers David Moore

Diego and his daughter The Northern Italian region of Trentino, beckoning skiers to the Dolomites and introducing the Alps, is home to self-effacing master oenologist Diego Bolognani. His father purchased the old buildings and winery in 1952.The whole Bolognani family is involved in the operations of this small winery. In addition to their “estate” vineyards, the family oversees the viticulture from a number of growers in the area.

Xavier Vignon

winegrowers Greg Moore

Xavier in his laboratory in Avignon As the technical director and head enologist at “Avignon Oenologie Conseil,” Xavier oversees winemaking at more than 300 estates, including most of the best-known domaines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In lieu of payment for his laboratory’s service, he sometimes accepts wine, which “Xavier Vins,” the micro-négociant company he established in 2002, assembles into some of the most expressive wines in the southern Rhône Valley.Originally a physical chemist, Xavier is particularly interested in how the spectrum of dissolved mineral salts in the groundwater of each vineyard, which varies from parcel to parcel, influences the expression of terroir in the grapes. “I’m a trained enologist,” he says. “I’ve examined wine down to the molecular level. Which, in the end, convinces me that what is most important are the vines, the depth of the roots, and the health and balance of the vineyard.”

Domaine Louis Boillot

winegrowers Greg Moore

Louis Boillot in his cellar in Chambolle-Musigny Louis Boillot’s seven-hectare estate is half of the original Domaine Lucien Boillot of Gevrey-Chambertin. In 2002, the domaine was split equally between Louis and his brother Pierre, who continues operations at Domaine Lucien Boillot. But in 2003, shortly after their father’s retirement, Louis left the winery in Gevrey, and with his wife, Ghislaine Barthod, a famous and highly respected winegrower in her own right, purchased a lovely old house with a perfect, functional cellar in Chambolle-Musigny. Today, Ghislaine Barthod and Louis Boillot make their wines side by side in the same cellar. Both have unusually old vines; Ghislaine’s vineyards all in Chambolle-Musigny, and Louis’ in eight communes stretching the entire length of the Côte, from Fixin through Gevrey-Chambertin, all the way south to Volnay, and further south to Moulin-a-Vent. Their son Clément will one day inherit a combined domaine that will be one of the greatest in al

Terre Bianche

winegrowers Greg Moore

Paolo and Filippo Rondelli 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of Terre Bianche, established in 1870 when the first Rosesse grapes were planted in the white soil above the Ligurian Riviera, just eight kilometers from the French border. But the reputation and influence of this remarkable estate today is mostly due to Filippo Rondelli, who took over the estate at the age of twenty, on the death of his father, Claudio. “My problem is that I'm a perfectionist and never happy with results…and our problem is that we're not in Piemonte, so we have to work a lot to reach our goals.”

Château Brulesecailles

winegrowers Greg Moore

Jacques Rodet No doubt Château Brûlesécaille, which was classified a Cru Bourgeois in 1868, would be better known today if the wine were sold on the Place de Bordeaux. But Jacques and Martine Rodet, who took charge of the family estate in 1974, prefer to sell their wine directly, in mutually rewarding personal relationships like the one that established Château Brûlesécaille at “Les Trois Marches” in Versailles more than thirty years ago, and the one I hope will continue long into the future. The 26-hectare estate lies on an elevated croupe of gravelly clay limestone overlooking the Dordogne in Tauriac, one of the most privileged locations in the Côtes de Bourg. Of special interest is that many of the vines are more than seventy years old, having escaped the ravages of the terrible freeze of February 1956, which destroyed nearly three fourths of the vines on the Right Bank. Stéphane Beuret, the brilliant enologist who also makes the wine at Domaine du Château Larroque, super

Brunori

winegrowers Greg Moore

Cristina and Carlo Brunori Generations of Brunoris have grown wine in the province of Ancona, in Le Marche, but none was bottled until 1956, when Mario Brunori established his winery in the rural Contrada San Nicolò. At the same time, he opened a small wine shop in the nearby town of Jesi. Today, Mario’s son Giorgio heads the family business, assisted by his daughter Cristina who manages the office, and his enologist son Carlo who is in charge of the winery. Specialties include outstanding Rosso Conero and Rosso Piceno, as well as the best Verdicchio in the province.