Notorious Wines ® Information

A Pioneer for Quality Wine in Languedoc From the early 70s, I started to renovate the estate. I made the difficult choice to never rely on subsidies, instead to produce wine for a market that is looking for more quality. It took a while to create. I planted vines that weren’t thought to be suitable for the conditions in Languedoc. Firstly Grenache and Syrah, then Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. All this pioneering work has been accompanied with resolute determination against the administration; as we are used to these days with our work on the management of alcohol content. It seems "times change" easier than people do ... the way we prune and trellis the vines has been dictated by the rules of major French regions using the Royat system. The wine became sharper when we were able to work on the most important factor for our region: temperature control. Learning to barrel-age and bottle wine was not easy-going, but the hard work paid off. Our loyal customer base was growing and we were winning competitions. Our greatest achievement was winning the award of the “Best Chardonnay in the World” twice, defeating the greatest Burgundies. This earned me the nickname that I quite enjoy; the "Devil of Chardonnay". It is better to be the devil than the Good Lord, we ask less of him. The Drive For Innovation / Focus on Innovation My son Vincent joined me at the estate 1997. More will be explained later, but to list them in order: irrigation, method of bottle closure, dealcoholisation, natural bush-style growing and the planting of new disease-resistant grape varieties have all been addressed. More than ever after this decade, we believe that the world of wine has to live with the times. Our major contribution to this exciting and necessary modernization has been rewarded with one of the three gold medals at World Wines Innovation Awards, we are very proud of this achievement. François Pugibet