Les Vignerons d'Estézargues
People: Anna Track & Armelle Rouault
Grapes: Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Cinsault
Type of Farming: Organic
Production: 2.000.000 bottles
While cooperative cellars still play a vital role in producing and selling wine across France, by their general business model of buying grapes in bulk and paying growers by the volume, they are generally not known for quality or for innovation. Les Vignerons d’Estézargues changed this approach in the early 1990s, starting to vinify their sites separately creating a range of ten individual domaine wines, sourced from the most significant members’ best plots. They are also possibly the only co-ops in the world to practice minimal intervention winemaking.