Guide
to the Loire regions
Côte
Roannaise
Grower
Profiles

Bonichons vineyard
Domaine
de la Perrière
Philippe Peulet is a first generation vigneron.
The son of a stonemason, he was born in the département
of L’Ain, to the east of Burgundy; a region known better as the origin
of Poulet de Bresse than its
vineyards. Now in his early 40s, Peulet has already enjoyed one career in
the world of veterinary vaccines, but he now immersed in his passion for
wine. In 2002 he spent one year at the same lycée
viticole in Macon as did his predecessor and mentor, Alain Demon who
he met, by chance, on a random visit to the Roannaise. His first
‘unofficial’ vintage was in 2003 and he worked in conjunction with
Alain for the next two years before Demon retired. By this time he had
moved to the Roannaise with wife, Marie-Hélène, and their four children.
He has basically taken on Demon’s 4.5 hectares of vines, half of which
are over 50 years old and include some pieds
of rogue Gamay Chaundenay. All are in Ambierle, but spread over nine
parcels, including the distinguished lieu-dit
of Bonichons. The oldest vines, planted in 1904 and gobelet trained, are
situated on an east facing slope.
WINE OVERVIEW:
Back at the house, the cellar is made up of stainless
steel tanks where he ferments his small production of maceration rosé
(just 500 litres in 2008) and his lighter red cuvée called ‘Granit’
which comes from the Bonichons vineyard. To date he has managed his
fermentations spontaneously, although the difficult conditions of the 2007
and 2008 vintages have opened his mind up to using cultured yeasts in
future.
A second bottling, ‘Les Moines Noirs’ is barrel
aged in 600 litre demi-muids
with the press wine aged in five barrels bought from the brothers Foucault
at Clos Rougeard. The first release of this was in 2005.
THE WINES:
The enthusiastic and fast-talking (even in English,
which he learnt whilst living for six months in Holland) Peulet is clearly
passionate about wine, understands it well and is widely tasted. If
anything, he’s trying a little too hard to impress and his wines are too
overstated as they stand. The ‘Granit’ is the most interesting of the
pair of reds, as the wood aged cuvée is too extracted and lacks a sense
of place. Hopefully, the pendulum will swing the other way soon.
Philippe Peulet
La Perrière
Ambierle
T: + 33 4 77 65 65 49
P: + 33 6 86 56 52 35
Philippe.peulet@wanadoo.fr
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