Guide
to the Loire regions
Côtes
du Forez
Grower
Profiles
Domaine
de la Madone
Gilles
Bonnefoy is in the distinguished position of being the only independent
grower in the Côtes du Forez to have never had any connection with the
co-operative system. He started his domaine in 1997, returning to
Champdieu from where his family originate after deciding that trying to
sell Gallo
California
wines to the French was probably not such a good idea. Whilst Bonnefoy had
acquired a BTS qualification whilst studying in Macon and Versailles, he
had not necessarily intended to become a winemaker, since the family vines
that had originally belonged to his great grandfather had passed through
his uncle. He needed to establish his own vineyards from scratch.
Bonnefoy’s venture began with the 1997 vintage, with wine produced from
two parcels of vines on the slopes of the volcanic pic of La Madone, named
after the statue to the Madonna that stands at its summit. The vineyard
had been abandoned, so it was down to him to bring it back into life.
Whilst he proved to be competent enough to withstand this challenge, he
failed in the winery when the wine underwent malolactic fermentation in
the bottle; his first ‘commercial’ release came with the 1998 vintage.
During this time, he held down a day job (he only became a full time
vigneron in 2004) working as a commercial manager with LVMH selling Veuve
Cliquot, and for the first seven vintages, he worked from an old cellar in
the appropriately named Rue des Caves in Champdieu. He finally erected his
own purpose built winery (next to the family home) on the hillside above
Champdieu in readiness for the 2004 vintage.
He began to extend his domaine by acquiring land to replant in 2000,
adding to his existing location in
La Madone. This distinguished south-facing slope of volcanic origin had
last been planted (with hybrids) at the turn of the last century and had
been grubbed up after the Second World War. By now, the land was a mass of
scrub and required extensive clearing before the first vines could be
planted a year later. Also in 2000, Bonnefoy bought land in the lieu-dits
of Le Pigeonnier (another historic site of volcanic origin, close to the
main Boën to Montbrison road), the south-facing if sandy Haute Roche
(from where Bonnefoy now sources his grapes for his Côtes du Forez Rosé)
and Le Pizet just to the south of Le Champdieu.
The
decision to plant Roussanne in 2001 was on the recommendation of a vigneron
friend in the Savoie, who suggested the variety on the basis that
climatically the conditions of the Forez are very similar. The first crop
was harvested in 2005.
Bonnefoy now works a total of eight hectares, including 0.5ha of 70 year
old vines which are still Gobelet trained. In addition to holding down a
full-time job, buying and replanting vineyards, and making the wines, he
also became certified organic in 2001
and followed this with a Demeter certification for biodynamic production
with the 2008 vintage. Needless to say, all the grapes are harvested by
hand.
WINES:
Bonnefoy
produces five different wines, two as Vin de Pays and three under the
appellation. The Vin de Pays d’Urfé Roussanne
de Madone is something of a local curiosity but is a worthy Rhône
look-alike, although does exhibit more oxidative characters. The second
Vin de Pays is the distinctly sweet (36g/l) Rosé
La Madone Demi-Sec which is from a vineyard still in conversion.
It’s a bit aigre-doux and
hollow.
The three Côtes du Forez wines are made up of the dry Rosé La Madone – Gamay sur
Volcan which is produced through saignée
which in turn helps beef up the red wine, starting with La Madone – Gamay sur Volcan,
although even this was a little too stalky in 2008, whilst La Madone – Gamay sur Volcan
Vieilles Vignes shows a little more concentration, structure and
black cherry fruit.
Wine
Overview:
There is
little argument that Gilles Bonnefoy is probably the most dynamic and
exciting of all the independent growers in the region, although on the
basis of the current (2008) releases there is a degree of inconsistency in
some of the wines. The 2009s tasted from tank, however, showed much
greater quality. He is an open and very likable guy whose wines are
certainly worth seeking out, even though they don’t get to travel too
far, with 30% of his sales from the cellar door and a further 40% sold to
restaurants and caviste’s within the Loire département.
Gilles
Bonnefoy
Domaine de la Madone
Jobert
Champdieu
T: + 33 4 77 97 07 33
F: + 33 4 77 97 79 38
g.bonnefoy@42.sideral.fr
www.vins-g-bonnefoy.com
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