“He looks inward; towards the cellar
of his chest where so many things have piled up over all the years of his life. And all of a sudden it opened up, it flowed, clear, then thick, then clear again, the dregs and the wine mixed, as if the bung had jumped out of a forgotten barrel.”
The Winemaker
Architect and winegrower, Mathieu Puel embodies rural values through his commitment to respect for nature, patience and manual labour. His career reflects a return to the essentials, where a passion for the soil and the vine meets attention to detail and an aesthetic sensibility inherited from architecture.
After the first plantings in spring 2017, in the presence of our nurseryman Gibault et fils, I made an appointment in winter 2018 with François Chidaine and his wife Manuela, winegrowers in Montlouis-sur-Loire, to discuss my winegrowing project together.
Straight away, François made me understand that such a project involves challenges that require self-sacrifice, patience and humility. This was the beginning of a partnership between our two families. Over the years, they have seen their roots intertwine, resulting in the expression of an authentic winegrowing terroir from Correze, with its source on the slopes of the Loire.
A story of men, a story of intoxication and transmission, on the edge of sight, away from the crowds where the Repaire Mas-Ségur was born.
François’ know-how and strength take us down the long path of our first garden vineyard. At a time when winegrowing is resolutely looking to the future and innovation (equipment, growing methods, vinification, etc.), I’m taking the old-fashioned route. François knows what he’s doing, being at the cutting edge of this type of viticulture, which combines a traditional approach with the most advanced techniques, in the service of a history and a terroir.
The hoe is the tool best suited to this type of peasant viticulture. Once powered by human hands, then pulled by animals, the hoe has now been replaced by the tractor, even though the man who drives it is its very essence. Through gesture and word, my inspiration accompanies each of my actions throughout the seasons.
“To make good wine, you need good grapes,” François’ father used to say. The fruit of man’s labour and transmission, the heritage of the elders, is combined through the union of the laboratores and the oratores. The spirituality of the wines is rooted in the depths of the earth. There can be no elevation without lowering. This is the very principle of humility, rooted in the heart of the humus. A total approach in which all the elements interact with each other. A lifetime is not enough, especially when you’re just starting out. In this respect, the heritage and transmission of the values espoused by François are what have given substance to this adventure.
