Guide
to the Loire regions
Côte
Roannaise
Grower
Profiles
Lionel
Montroussier
The Montroussier’s are an old family of wine growers
who have made wine in the Roannaise without interruption since 1670. There
have been times of trauma and Lionel’s grandfather, Philibert, raised
Charolais after the Second World War when there was not enough
profitability in viticulture to make ends meet. His son, Michel was
obliged to work in Roanne until he was forty before returning to run the
family domaine. Lionel was, however, always destined to be a vigneron,
and after his viticultural studies in Belleville-sur-Saône he worked for
a while for a caviste in
Luxembourg to gain some commercial experience, followed by an
apprenticeship with Patrick Chassagne, a grower in the Beaujolais, before
joining his father in 2001. They worked together for just five seasons
before Michel died suddenly in 2005.
The Montroussier’s first started bottling their wines in 1977 at a time
when they had just three hectares of vines. In 1989, after Michel had
returned to the domaine, father and son started to replant vines on the
Bouthéran which helped increase their holdings to six hectares. A new,
purpose built cellar was erected in 1998 and they also operate a modest chambres
d’hôtes from above the old house.
All of their vines are situated in the commune and until 2005 were
exclusively planted to Gamay. Lionel planted a little Roussanne and
harvested the first grapes for his Vin de Pays in 2008. The average age of
the vines here is 30 years, although the oldest date back to the early
1900s. These vines on the slopes are hand harvested, although the balance
is bought in by machine.
WINE
OVERVIEW:
The wines are fermented and aged in a combination of
epoxy and cement tanks, although some barrels have crept into the cellar
for the Roussanne and there is a barrique aged red wine too. Around 10% of
the production is rosé, although the method of production changes
depending on the conditions of the vintage. Apart from the oak aged red,
there are a further three cuvees: ‘La Baude’ for early drinking,
‘Vieilles Vignes Les Quarts’ from the oldest vines and Le Bouthéran.
In addition to this, there is a ‘nouveau’ style red wine that is sold
in bag-in-box.
THE WINES:
My impression here was that this was another casualty
of the 2007 vintage, but the 2008 vintage wines tasted in tank looked very
promising indeed. Look out for the Roussanne Vin de Pays when released,
although there’s only a couple of barrels and its unlikely to get any
further than the cellar door. These are good wines made by an energetic
and likeable guy.

Lionel
Montroussier
La Baude
Saint-André d’Apchon
T: + 33 4 77 65 80 86
P: + 33 6 08 98 99 64
F: + 33 4 77 65 92 76
Lionel.montrussier@wanadoo.fr
domainemontroussier@wanadoo.fr
www.domaine-montroussier.com
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