How Vincent Maurel and his brother ignored the snobs and saved the Clos St Jean vineyard
Family’s Chateauneuf-du-Pape estate in France’s Rhone Valley has benefited from application of modern techniques and equipment, with three recent vintages earning 100 point from Robert Parker
How long has your family owned the Clos St Jean vineyard in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France? “My family arrived in Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the 15th century. My great-grandfather decided to try to make wine at the beginning of the 1900s. He planted his first vines in 1905 on 13 hectares. My brother, Pascal, and I continue to work with these vines, the jewel of our estate, which is now 47 hectares. He planted grenache, which we use for our top cuvée.”
Were you expected to go into the family business? “I was in my second year in university, studying law, when my father died, just before the harvest in 1982. I was 22 years old and had to drop everything. My mother wanted me to come back to the estate, and my brother had just finished school to learn about wine and how to grow vines. The situation was very difficult because my father had a big tax bill and it was impossible to pay. He only produced 6,000 bottles a year because he was doing it by himself. Thankfully, wine growers from Châteauneuf-du-Pape helped us by giving us contacts for two importers, one from Britain and one from the Netherlands. From then on, my outlook was oriented towards export.”
How did you turn things around? “We met Philippe Cambie, who became our oenologist. He is a genius with wine. He had a new view of wine that was international. In France, many people are close-minded; they think we are the best because wine has always been part of French culture. In fact, they don’t know much about wine. They don’t want to make it better. But we do.
“He talked to my brother and me for four years [before] we decided to change the process, in 2002. Because of that, [wine critic] Robert Parker gave 100 points to our 2003, 2005 and 2010 vintages.
How do you know when it is the best time? “[When] the grapes have a coating, the acidity isn’t as strong and there is only a little elasticity in the skin. The pips must be black and the grapes must explode between your teeth. We pick the grapes together, and sort the good from the bad; the picker spreads the grapes on the sorting table and four to six of us inspect them. We fall asleep dreaming about grapes.”
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Tell us about working with your brother. “Pascal is 18 months older than me. In the beginning, my brother taught me everything but he has a strong character and it was a bit difficult. For 15 years I was in the vineyard, too, but as the business grew I focused more on the office, with him in the vineyard and cellar. It’s good that we have our own work because two brothers in the same place will compete.”
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Do your sons want to get into the wine business? “My oldest son is 24 years old and an osteopath in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The second is 16 and has a great palate and a good nose for tasting. He’s doing an internship at my estate. He gets to ride the 3.7-metre-high tractors with the technicians and he loves that. The last one is 13 years old. He is deciding between psychology and the vines. My brother has a son and a daughter, and all the cousins are very close. I think they could make a good team.”
