Château des Rontets

Château des Rontets: monopole Pouilly-Fuissé from an organic, high-altitude terroir

Château des Rontets

Château des Rontets is a family estate at the top of the village of Fuissé, in the Mâconnais. Run since 1995 by Claire Gazeau and Fabio Montrasi, two former architects who turned to winegrowing, this vineyard of 6.5 to 7 hectares is farmed as a monopole on the climat "les Rontets".

Wine region

Mâconnais, southern Burgundy, Saône-et-Loire.

Appellations and terroirs

The heart of the estate is the climat "les Rontets", farmed as a monopole on a Jurassic limestone plateau at around 350 metres above sea level, with layers of silt and clay. This altitude helps to preserve high natural acidity and lengthens the ripening of the grapes. The Pierrefolle plot, facing due east in the commune of Fuissé, sits on predominantly granitic bedrock with deep silt soils, which gives it a profile distinct from the plateau cuvées. An additional half-hectare, the Côte de Besset, is planted with Gamay in Saint-Amour.

Signature grape varieties

• Chardonnay: almost exclusive on the Pouilly-Fuissé plots, in line with the appellation rules
• Gamay: half a hectare in the commune of Saint-Amour (Côte de Besset)

Philosophy and history

The property has been in the Gazeau-Varambon family since the middle of the 19th century. In 1995, Claire Gazeau and Fabio Montrasi took over the estate after training in viticulture in the region. Their approach rests on one constant conviction: to make wines that are true to their terroir, with few corrective interventions in the cellar (no chaptalisation, no acidification and as little sulphur as possible).

Production details

Clos Varambon comes from 10 to 50-year-old vines on the Rontets plateau and is aged in old 400 and 3,000-litre barrels to preserve the purity of the fruit. Les Birbettes, whose name evokes "old age" in Burgundian slang, comes from vines planted around the 1920s and is aged for 18 to 24 months. Pierrefolle, on predominantly granitic soil, shows a more structured profile than the two plateau cuvées. All the wines are aged in large vessels (foudres, demi-muids, barrels) with little new oak. Work in the vineyard is mostly done by hand.

Environmental commitment

Château des Rontets has been certified organic since 2005. The vines are ploughed mechanically and, for the most part, worked by hand. The estate also cites agroforestry as a complementary practice in favour of biodiversity in the vineyard.

Recognition

Bettane & Desseauve describes the estate as the "rough diamond of the Mâconnais" and highlights "cuvées of admirable consistency and inimitable profile". The Wine Advocate mentioned the estate among the benchmark vineyards of the Mâconnais (Neil Martin, August 2013).

Why choose a wine from Château des Rontets?

• A monopole vineyard at around 350 metres on a Jurassic limestone plateau, quite unusual within the landscape of the Pouilly-Fuissé appellation
• Vines whose oldest plantings date from the 1920s, farmed without synthetic plant-protection products since organic certification in 2005
• Long ageing in large vessels, up to 24 months for Les Birbettes, with few corrective interventions in the cellar
• Three cuvées from distinct plots (Clos Varambon, Birbettes, Pierrefolle) reflecting different soils and exposures within the same estate
• Cited by Bettane & Desseauve and The Wine Advocate, among others, as one of the benchmarks of the Mâconnais

Explore our Château des Rontets selection: monopole Pouilly-Fuissé from a high-altitude terroir farmed organically since 2005, with long, low-intervention ageing.