Stéphane Spitzglous

Château Henri Bonnaud is the story of a grandson, Stéphane Spitzglous, who is passionate about the land, the wine, and its terroir, and who wants to pay tribute to his grandfather, the famous Henri Bonnaud. In this story, it is impossible to talk about one without talking about the other! Henri Bonnaud was a man of the soil. Since 1920, his father had been cultivating 11 hectares of vines in Le Tholonet, 10 km south-east of Aix en Provence. At that time, he naturally took over the family business and became a farmer and winegrower. He also cultivated other foodstuffs (wheat, fruit trees, corn...) on this same clay-limestone soil called Langesse, literally located at the foot of the Sainte Victoire Mountain. Stéphane Spitzglous, Henri Bonnaud's grandson and current winegrower and owner of the Domaine, insisted for a long time on taking over the vineyard from his grandfather. Not that the latter did not want to listen to his grandson! But rather, not believing that the land is a profession of the future, he encouraged him to continue his studies. Stéphane took over his grandfather's vineyards in 1996, after a degree in Physics. 11 hectares of vines had been eligible for the Palette PDO since 1948, when the appellation was created. After 8 harvests in the cooperative cellar, he vinified his first Palette PDO wine "Château Henri Bonnaud rouge 2004" for the first time. His first vintages, qualified as "garage wines", were made in a family Provencal farmhouse, where he lived with his family. Twelve years later, the passion is still the same. Thanks to his hard work and perseverance, two years ago Stéphane Spitzglous created a wine estate with a perfectly adapted vat house and cellars offering him all the necessary comfort for the production of 150,000 bottles and 10 vintages per year.