Anyone who creates wines must be generous and festive. Without such qualities the creative act is doomed, sterile and vain. Conviviality and generosity are a form of self-expression, an incentive and stimulant, enhancing and encouraging, much as a wine contributes its richness to the dish it accompanies. One with the other, one for the other. The matching of food and wine is central to Michel Chapoutier’s whole approach.
Our History
“Wine is the result of two forces. The magnetic force of the earth and the cosmic force of the sun. The art of the winegrower is to foster the accumulation of energy from both forces in the grape until it is time to harvest.” M. Scipion
Rhone Valley
1808
Members of the Chapoutier family have been working in the Rhône valley since 1808.
first production
1800's
A distant ancestor, Polydor Chapoutier, was the first to buy vines here, shifting from being a simple grape grower to making and trading his own wine. The pioneering spirit was already part of the family tradition.
Exploring Australia
1997
Michel Chapoutier set out to explore the terroirs of the oldest continent. He wanted to meet people, people like him with a passionate interest in bringing out the true character of vines.
Australian wines
2002
Michel Chapoutier buys land and joins forces with major winemaking families, playing on their complementary know-how and experience. The result is exceptional Shiraz wines, displaying great elegance and mineral purity.
Venture to Portugal
2007
To the Portuguese vineyard Michel Chapoutier added old Rhône valley stock<br /> from his own vineyards
A revered offering
Today
Today, the Chapoutier name is synonymous with the values that have been nurtured for over 200 years - respect, audacity, conviviality and generosity
Our Story
Members of the Chapoutier family have been working in the Rhône Valley since 1808. Their ancestor, Polydor Chapoutier, was the first to buy vines there, shifting from being a simple grape grower to making and trading his own wine. The pioneering spirit was already part of the family tradition.
Seven generations later we encounter Michel Chapoutier with a real passion for the expression of soils, a vigneron with vision while respecting history and traditions.
Today maison M. Chapoutier continues to further its legacy as a benchmark for the industry in general: the biodynamic model created by Michel in the 1990s has become the standard by which the entire biodynamic wine industry is measured in contemporary Europe.
Many thought twenty-six-year-old Michel daring when he converted his family’s legendary estate to new methods of growing and winemaking. Today, his peers continue to view him as an innovator, leader, forward-thinker, and risk-taker who changed the course of French winemaking for the better
1997
Australian Wines
In 1997, true to his pioneering spirit, Michel Chapoutier set out to explore the terroirs of the oldest continent. He wanted to meet people, people like him with a passionate interest in bringing out the true character of vines. A matter of convictions, too, prompting discovery and observation. Michel Chapoutier’s aim is to invent properties, not to follow the example of others.
Michel Chapoutier buys land and joins forces with major winemaking families, playing on their complementary know-how and experience. The result is exceptional Shiraz wines, displaying great elegance and mineral purity.
In 2002 he joined forces with Ron and Elva Laughton (Jasper Hill) in central Victoria, and at Heathcote, north of Melbourne, on a very unusual, early Cambrian soil.
He has also worked with Rick Kinzbrunner on the Giaconda vineyard at Beechworth, in northeast Victoria, on a granite soil.
Maison M. Chapoutier bought two other Australian vineyards (Shays Flat and Landsborough) in the Victorian Pyrenees and set up the fully owned Domaine Tournon, producing a range of organic single vineyard wines that are true expressions of the soil in which they are grown.
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1808
Imported Wines
We are delighted to offer a range of wines from our estates in the Rhône Valley, Provence, Alsace, Roussillon, Spain, Portugal and Germany.
From Rhône classics to exciting new ventures, the wines from M. Chapoutier are benchmarks of quality, a reference for organic and biodynamic viticulture and winemaking.
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