Vanessa Cherruau doesn’t come from the prestigeous winemaking background that so many winemakers of her callibre do. She discovered wine by chance at a tasting which prompted her to leave her job as a reporter and go back to school to study oenology.

After several patient years, she came across Chateau de Plaisance. It had been farmed much to her ideals with organic and biodynamic certification already in place, but it needed love. It needed nursing back to health and restoring back to it’s former beauty.

Vanessa’s approach is all-in. The winery is dedicated to leaving as little footprint on the planet as possible. Lightweight recycled bottles, recycled boxes and labels, and vegtable ink are all steps taken in the winery. But it doesn’t stop here. Members of the League for the Protection of Birds, every part of vineyard management is directed back towards the earth. Maybe the coolest part, in place of burning the pruning offcuts, as is tradtition in this region, Vanessa has hers made into matchsticks. She wages a quiet peaceful revolution in an area where monoculture is a sign of good wine.

“Not having a parachute means having irreproachable vigour and unstoppable technical mastery”