About us
Our journey began in 2012
when two friends, Charles Derain and Simon Tyrrell, set out to achieve a long-held ambition of becoming vignerons in the Rhône Valley.
Charles
had a background as a sommelier, trained in the prestigious Lycée Hotelier de Tain l’Hermitage and with vintage experience at Domaine Alain Graillot, before going on to work in some of Europe’s most famous starred restaurants. After leaving the world of hospitality in 2006, he became a distributor for many of Burgundy’s finest estates.
Simon
spent many years running his own distribution business, specialising in wines from the Rhône Valley before changing direction in 2009, undertaking viticulture and oenology studies at Plumpton College, University of Brighton in the UK. His harvest experience was spent at Domaine Stéphane Ogier and Château Terre Forte.
Gerard Maguire
joined the team in 2017 - wine importer and retailer with business interests in Ireland, Spain and France, Gerard’s varied career has seen him work as a police detective and lawyer before succumbing to his real passion, wine.
The Building of a Domaine
From 2012 until 2017
we were gypsy winemakers, accessing the vineyards and winery facilities at La Cave des Vignerons d’Estézargues, the progressive co-operative to the west of Avignon. Here, we were able to further, not only our winemaking experience but also our understanding of the evolving landscapes within the Rhône Valley.
By 2016
we had begun seeking out vineyards to buy in the northern part of the Gard, believing that this hilly region could provide us with the type of fruit we were looking for to produce the sort of wines we wanted to make.
Unquestionably, we chose the harder route when building up our vineyard holdings,
preferring to buy parcels bit by bit, in outstanding sites, rather than buying an already established domaine. We completed the purchase of our first 3 hectares of vineyard at the end of 2016, adding a further 1.3 hectares in 2019 and another 4 hectares at the start of 2020. Our winery is situated in the village of Saint Nazaire at the eastern end of the Cèze Valley.
