Our Producers
Our Producers
The people behind the bottles
One of the things we enjoy about wine is finding out more about the people who make it.
Terroir works with a smaller group of producers rather than trying to stock wines from everywhere. There are family estates that have been making wine for generations and others doing things a little differently. Organic farming is common among our producers as well.
They're based across France and Italy and there's quite a mix.
Here are some of the producers you’ll find at Terroir.
France
Champagne Gratiot & Cie
A family Champagne house with Pinot Meunier at its heart
Champagne Gratiot & Cie has 18 hectares of vines across seven villages in the Aisne department of Champagne.
The family grows the three main Champagne grapes, but Pinot Meunier has an important place here. While it sometimes gets less attention than Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, that's certainly not the case at Gratiot.
The Almanach range includes different blends and styles, including the zero-dosage Almanach N°0 Brut Nature. There are vintage releases too, some of which spend many years ageing on lees.
And then there are the really small releases. The Désiré Gratiot 2006, for example, was limited to just 756 bottles.
So if you normally head straight for the Champagne houses you already know, have a look at Gratiot & Cie.
Champagne Lucien Collard
Grand Cru Champagne from Bouzy
Champagne Lucien Collard comes from Bouzy in the Montagne de Reims, one of Champagne's Grand Cru villages.
This is Pinot Noir country and the grape dominates the vineyards here, accounting for most of the plantings alongside a smaller amount of Chardonnay.
That comes through in the wines. The range includes Pinot Noir-led Champagnes such as Extra Brut as well as Grand Cru vintage releases. The 2009 Grand Cru, for example, was made with 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay.
Bouzy has a long reputation for Pinot Noir, so Lucien Collard is a good one to look at if you already enjoy Champagne but haven't ventured very far beyond the names you usually buy.
Champagne Augustin
A different approach to Champagne
Champagne Augustin has vineyards in Avenay Val d'Or in the Montagne de Reims and Vertus in the Côte des Blancs. Both are Premier Cru areas.
The range uses Chardonnay and Pinot Noir across a number of cuvées, including Blanc de Noirs and Blanc de Blancs.
But there's also some unusual stuff going on here.
Take Cuvée Gaïa. It's made from old-vine Pinot Noir and, after bottling and ageing, the Champagne is returned to Grigny and buried in the earth, effectively creating an underground cellar.
It's certainly not something you hear about behind every bottle of Champagne and gives you some idea of Augustin's approach to making wine.
Champagne Pertois-Moriset
Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs
Champagne Pertois-Moriset is based in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and has vineyards across the Côte des Blancs and Côte de Sézanne.
If you like Chardonnay, this is where things get interesting.
The range includes 100% Chardonnay Grand Cru Champagnes, along with vintage and single-vineyard releases. Les Jutées comes from a named vineyard in the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, where the soil is worked naturally.
There are other wines to explore too, including L'Assemblage, Quatre Terroirs and vintage releases.
So if you're already a Blanc de Blancs drinker, or you're curious about Champagne where Chardonnay gets all the attention, Pertois-Moriset is worth a look.
Château de L'Ou
Organic wine from Roussillon
Séverine and Philippe Bourrier bought Château de L'Ou near Perpignan in 1998.
At the time, the property had 26 hectares of vineyards and another four hectares of olive trees. They started converting the vineyard to organic farming straight away, when there were only a handful of estates in Roussillon doing the same.
Since then, Château de L'Ou has expanded into other vineyard areas, including higher-altitude sites. Different soils, cooler nights and the conditions in each vineyard give Séverine plenty of options when it comes to making the wine.
The range covers fresh whites through to some serious Syrah-based reds, and a number have picked up strong reviews over the years.
The scores are nice, of course, but we were interested in the wines long before we started talking about ratings.
Château Laballe
Wine from land better known for Armagnac
Château Laballe is a little different because of where its vineyards are located.
They sit on the Sables Fauves, or tawny sands, of Bas-Armagnac. These soils are traditionally associated with Armagnac rather than wine, and Château Laballe was the first estate to produce wine from them.
The soils contain iron oxide and have their own particular character, which comes through in the wines grown there.
Château Laballe produces both whites and reds, using familiar grapes as well as some varieties you may not know.
It's also a good example of why we like knowing where a wine comes from. Sometimes the land beneath the vines is a big part of the story.
Domaine Boucabeille
High-altitude vineyards and ancient schist
Domaine Boucabeille sits on the slopes of Força Réal, about 15 kilometres northwest of Perpignan.
The vineyards are planted at altitude on schist soils that formed hundreds of millions of years ago. The soil is dry and permeable, so the vines send their roots deep in search of water. The altitude and local winds also help with the heat.
The Domaine makes white, rosé and red wines, along with limited releases and aged Rivesaltes. Grenache and Syrah feature strongly, as do other varieties traditionally grown in the area.
You may also come across Les Orris, one of the Domaine's wines that has received some impressive scores over the years.
Château Moulis
A taste of the Médoc
Château Moulis takes us to Bordeaux and the Médoc.
Its vineyards extend across the appellation, which means the estate works with different soils and grape varieties when making its wines. As you'd expect from this part of France, the focus is very much on classic Bordeaux reds.
There's less of an unusual backstory here than you'll find with some of our other producers, but that's not really the point.
Sometimes we choose a producer because we simply like what they're making.
If you already enjoy Bordeaux, Château Moulis gives you another name to try. And if you haven't explored much from the Médoc before, it gives you somewhere to start.
Italy
Amastuola
An organic vineyard in Puglia
Amastuola is in Puglia, in the heel of southern Italy, and this is one vineyard that looks very different from the usual rows of vines.
The vines have been planted in long waves across the landscape, with around 1,500 olive trees dotted throughout the vineyard.
It's quite a sight.
The wines are organic and the estate grows Italian as well as international grape varieties. There are Puglian favourites such as Primitivo and Aglianico, along with Malvasia and Fiano. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are grown here too.
Amastuola is larger than some of the other producers we work with, but we've never had a rule about how big or small a producer needs to be. We're interested in the wine.
Found one you like?
“ Remember who made it. ”
If you enjoyed one of their wines, have a look at what else they make. You might find another grape or a different style you wouldn't normally have thought to try.
And if you've made it this far and still have no idea where to start, that's fine. Tell us what you normally drink and we'll help you choose.
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