The Estate

FROM BARE LAND TO THE CREATION OF OUR VINEYARDS

We are Graeme, New Zealand born and Julie, French from the Rhône Valley region (Lyon).

We met in the small village of Ampuis while working for Stephane Ogier, a producer in Côte-Rôtie. Our passion for wine was the motivation behind our decision to create our own wine estate in the Northern Rhône Valley.

I

Our story in video 2’35min

The creation

Both of us grew up far away from the world of wine. Our families don’t come from wine backgrounds and neither had land that we could farm and plant with vineyards. To accomplish this dream we had no other choice than to start from ZERO. To further complicate the challenges in front of us, it was impossible to acquire existing vineyards due to the price. Our only solution was to find parcels of land that were unplanted and often overgrown in bush.

In 2015 we acquired our first parcel in AOP Condrieu, in the village of Verin. With our pockets empty and no equipment, we set about clearing the land and rebuilding the stone walls by hand to stabilise the soil so we could plant our first vines in the decomposed granite soils, the original terroir of Viognier. Domaine Bott was born!!

We won the first prize of the Winemakers & Terroirs of the Future Competition

01

CLEANING
PREPARATION

02

BUILDING WALLS
TERRACING

03

PLANTING
TRELLISING

TODAY

We planted a total of 8 hectares (AOP Condrieu, Côte-Rôtie, Saint-Joseph, Vignobleof Seyssuel, IGP Collines Rhodaniennes)

Our focus : to master each detail & obtain precise wines reflecting their Terroir

Our goal : to continue to grow and plant more vineyards in exciting Terroirs.

A CAREFUL
APPROACH

Our work is 100% manual

Meticulous work to obtain healthy and quality grapes

All vineyards are vinified, parcel by parcel, as a single vineyard wine. By doing this we can select the optimum picking dates for each parcel and achieve the best expression of terroir.

 

Graeme Bott

A VISION FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

In the New World,
I learnt the technique of winemaking.
In France, I learnt the expression of the terroir.

Born in New Zealand
Bachelor in Viticulture-oenology
Experience in Clonakilla, Australia
Winemaker-cellar manager in Côte-Rôtie for 8 years

Julie Bott

an unusual journey

I never allowed myself to dream about creating a wine estate from scratch especially here in Côte-Rôtie

« la locale » from Vienne-Condrieu
International trades studies
Sales manager in a wine estate in Côte-Rôtie for 7 years