Domaine du Banneret
Flying under the radar but high above many of his peers, Jean-Claude Vidal has been crafting Chateauneuf-du-Pape at the ancient family estate (archives go back to 1405 – probably the oldest family in the village!) since he gave up a successful career as an architect in Toulouse to purchase the estate to keep the domaine in the family. He learned his craft well from Henri Bonneau and Jacques Reynaud (Chateau Rayas), surely mentors worthy of emulation. The property itself could be said to be modest, encompassing just 3 hectares over 7 separate tracts. Farming is fanatically organic and the vineyards are interplanted with “la symphonie” of 13 (or more – does one count Clairette Rosé as it’s own varietal?). Everything in the winery is done by hand and when I arrived for my visit last year Jean-Claude was applying glue to labels with a paint brush and applying those labels to the bottles. His production quantities are miniscule, the wines are as real as real can be.
Flying under the radar but high above many of his peers, Jean-Claude Vidal has been crafting Chateauneuf-du-Pape at the ancient family estate (archives go back to 1405 – probably the oldest family in the village!) since he gave up a successful career as an architect in Toulouse to purchase the estate to keep the domaine in the family. He learned his craft well from Henri Bonneau and Jacques Reynaud (Chateau Rayas), surely mentors worthy of emulation. The property itself could be said to be modest, encompassing just 3 hectares over 7 separate tracts. Farming is fanatically organic and the vineyards are interplanted with “la symphonie” of 13 (or more – does one count Clairette Rosé as it’s own varietal?). Everything in the winery is done by hand and when I arrived for my visit last year Jean-Claude was applying glue to labels with a paint brush and applying those labels to the bottles. His production quantities are miniscule, the wines are as real as real can be.
