Domaine Henri Bonneau

The jocular, salt-of-the-earth Henri Bonneau, who sadly passed away in 2016, was one of the greatest winemakers of his generation. He inspired many others, including luminaries such as Jean-Claude Vidal of Domaine du Banneret, Jérôme Bressy of Gourt de Mautens and Isabel Ferrando.

His 6.5ha estate was found mostly on La Crau, and consisted almost entirely of Grenache. He harvested late, didn’t destem his crop, fermented in concrete, and eschewed new oak and filtration. The wines matured for years in ancient barrels in a warren of tunnels dug out from under his terraced house in the village.

He made four Châteauneuf cuvées: his tradition; Cuvée Marie Beurrier, Réserve des Célestins – and a semi-sweet concoction called Cuvée Spéciale. He also made a Vin de France called Les Rouliers from vineyards in the Gard.

Since his death, the Bonneau estate has been controlled by his previous commercial distributor, Daniel Combin. Vintages made by Bonneau himself are still possible to track down, though they are becoming increasingly hard to find.