It had been almost 20 years since I’d last been back. It was at the very beginning of my career, just a few months after starting my sommelier training. My teacher and mentor, Patrick Rigourd, had organized a little tour for me in the southwest, with
@eliandaros as our first stop. The memories are hazy; we arrived late in the evening, but I remember the calm of Cocumont, the underground cellar, the mix of barrels, muids, and Alsatian foudres, Elian, Patrick, and Matthieu Cosse from
@laquets.maisonneuve commenting with incredible passion and precision the various wine samples that Elian poured for us with his pipette, then competing with each other, blind tasting bottle after bottle, famous Burgundy and Bordeaux wines, sharing not only the wines but also their knowledge and enthusiasm. What a moment for a young sommelier!
Since that evening, Elian’s wines (and those of Matthieu and Catherine) have been on every list of the restaurants where I’ve worked, so perfectly do their precision, density, and character celebrate, I believe, the beautiful, still relatively unknown terroirs of the Côtes-du-Marmandais, and the meticulous work of this talented vigneron in both the vineyard and the cellar.
I hadn’t been back since, so when the opportunity arose to do a tasting with Elian &
@pyquiviger during the
@rencontresmichelserres , and then to spend a few hours with him and Sandrine at the estate, I couldn’t resist. What a pleasure to wake up at the top of Clos Bacquey, to feel the life and light pulsating through a vineyard bursting with energy, to sense all the work accomplished over the years to respect this terroir, the organic farming, the agroecology, the non-trimming (since 2003!!), to see two people totally dedicated to their respective estates (Sandrine has her own vines), to taste the magnificent 2025, 2024, and 2023 vintages, so full of emotion and depth, and to discover a new, old indigenous grape variety (Bouillet). In short, a truly magical moment.
Thank you, Elian and Sandrine, for your warm welcome, and congratulations on your work and your passion! We are so fortunate to be able to offer such exceptional wines!