Chablis's Iconoclast
Patrick is a Quebec native where he originally owned a wine bar. The call of the vine was too strong and decided that making wine was his destiny rather than serving it. He found his way to Burgundy
at the dawn of the 21st century where he learned the tricks of the trade from Olivier Lefaive, Jean-Marie Guffens and Jean-Marc Brocard. With enough knowhow under his belt he decided to go it alone and 2008 was his maiden vintage. As a newcomer to the area, he had no vineyard holdings to fall back on so he set himself up as a negociant. Through is connections he certainly knows the secret handshake to the finest grapes with a particular love of old vines.
He hand-harvests his grapes (where machine harvesting is the norm in Chablis). His speciality is bottling wines grown in very specific vineyards that are designed to showcase the particular qualities of those terroirs – not just in premier cru, and one grand cru, sites but, more distinctively, within the vast area designated simply Chablis.
Ever a restless soul he loves to experiment and runs a second project based in Chablis’s outer reaches of Tonnerre. It is a collaboration with Champagne producer François Moutard and allows Patrick to tend his own vines. Here he makes non classified sparkling wine from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which makes
sense as you are only an hour south of Champagne’s Cotes des Bars.
The fruit is sourced from vines over 25 years of age from vineyards planted on limestone and clay soils. All the grapes are hand-harvested, fermented, and aged in stainless steel tanks before undergoing secondary fermentation. They then spend 9 months on the lees before disgorgement and finally, no dosage is added.
