Our History and philosophy
OUR COMMITMENT, OUR VALUES, OUR WAY
Why theses choices?
There are incontestable climatic changes due to global warming which have huge consequences on our life and especially on the agriculture.
The autumn’s monsoon, the spring in January, some frosts in May, the heatwave and the dryness in the summer, the hail anytime in the year… this climate imbalance forces us to approach our work in a different way to adapt ourselves.
In order to resist, the vines need to be healthy and we have to continue to give life back to the ground.
Biodiversity development, biodynamic and harvesting without sulfur in our estate help us to produce more expressive wines.
In the cellar, the abusive use of sulfur, the will to control everything, the use of chemical yeasts and brutal filtrations harm the expression of the natural qualities of the wine.
On the other hand, the commitment, the rigor, the reactivity, the hygiene and more work are essential. The extreme and early heat tends to produce wines with a stronger alcohol level (more than 15°) which lowers the tension and the freshness of our wines, the main characteristic of the Vouvray’s Chenin Blanc. We need to follow this way in order to give more sense to our project.
HOW ARE WE DOING IT?
Our “Terra Vitis” certification obtained in 2017 was the first step of a commitment started a while ago. Today, the “Ecocert” label for organic wines guides us everyday and pushes us to go further. Our experience and the testimonies of some other winemakers confirm we need to keep working rigorously. We pay for every mistake and it’s quite hard to correct them.
In the vineyard
The main idea is to give more life to the ground and take care of our vineyards so it will give us the best grapes, and therefore we will be able to withstand the climatic hazards. Boosting up the biodiversity, using natural products, organizing work to have everything done in time, this is our formula to make better wines. The animal traction avoids tamping the soils which is required in our search for excellence. This year, we will apply the biodynamic concepts in one of our plots. We have a lot of hope in this method which help to produce better and deeper wines.
In the cellar
According to Arnaud Immele, consulting oenologist, expert in vinification without sulfur added : “Putting sulfur during the harvesting and a bad management of the chemical products are the main reasons of the loss of typicity and personality in the wine making process”.
That’s why we are using less inputs : no more chemical products and selectioned yeasts but natural sugar and native yeasts at work to avoid the unwanted floras. Started few years ago, this evolution implies more work, unreproachable hygiene and a full-time commitment. To encourage and strengthen this way, we invested in a cooling system, stoneware jars and concrete eggs.
About OUR TRADE POLICY
Trade is the prolongation of our commitment into winemaking, it has to follow the same rules and be ethical. We developed few years ago some privileged relationships with different importers who are working with, they support us in our evolution. We have a network of restaurants and local wine merchants who are loyal to us since many years so we know we can count on them.
One of the strengths of Chateau Gaudrelle is also its large base of private customers which represent half of our sales. We like to welcome and meet you at our estate in our comfortable tasting room but also during fairs or events. We also ship our wines worldwide.
Our History
Built in the XVII century, Chateau Gaudrelle owns 16 hectares (40 acres) of vines located in the town of Vouvray, at the heart of the appellation.
Property of the Monmousseau family since 1931, the estate evolved through the years to try to produce more and more expressive wines. Since the beginning of the 2010’s, Chateau Gaudrelle has been diving into a sustainable farming with the label Terra Vitis in 2015. Quickly, we started to go organic with the aim to start the biodynamic methods as soon as possible.
Eric Pasquier, the partner of Alexandre Monmousseau since 2008 became the owner in 2020 with the intention to push this evolution way foward.