Michel and Dominique Bernard: "Jean-Louis Trintignant was born here at Château Beauchêne! »

Today, we have an appointment with Michel and Dominique Bernard from Château Beauchêne. The opportunity to learn a little more about them!

Identity : Michel Bernard

Profession : Winemaker

Region: Rhone Valley

Appellation : Côte du Rhône

His career... Why Wine? It's a family story. I was born and cradled in the vineyards from a very young age. From a very young age I have been passionate about the winemaking profession. As a teenager I made a detour to the law school. I then founded the first wine merchant company specialising in Rhône Valley estates and châteaux. From 1996, I returned exclusively to the profession of winemaker because I wanted to develop the family vineyard.

His news: 2014 is an important year for us. Indeed, we continue our efforts to renew the vineyard on exclusively qualitative criteria in order to always offer all our customers quality wines. In 5 years, from 2010 to 2015, we will have replanted more than 12 ha of vines on the Domaine. In addition, we are always improving our "guarantee" of the natural character of our wines through our charter "Nature, Terroir, Protect".

His reincarnation as a wine: It's hard for me not to say "a Chateauneuf du Pape".

His favourite time of the year: I particularly appreciate the last day of the harvest when the harvest is finally sheltered in the vats. One important stage has just finished, but another has just begun, that of vinification. The land offers us its product. It is now a question of transforming it to extract the best from it!

His temperament: Impatient, active and above all passionate!

An anecdote: The little anecdote is that the French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant was born here at Château Beauchêne.

His meeting : I keep a moving memory of Mr Joseph Veyne (nicknamed Uncle Jo), an old wine merchant who had an enormous talent as a taster. I regularly invited him to taste our projects of vintage each year.

You were running away from/hate it: The insincerity and the lack of loyalty.

Why Les Grappes? A team that I found competent, committed, passionate and focused on a goal very close to ours.

What do you like about your job? The multiplicity of tasks. I am successively farmer, oenologist, team leader, business man when I have to go to China or elsewhere in the world to sell wine.

The most famous person to whom you would like to make taste your wine? Make Pope François taste the Châteauneuf du Pape de Beauchêne.