Le Puy

The first known ancestors of the Amoreau family date back to 1610. They lived pretty much exactly where the Le Puy estate is now, over 400 years later, so it’s safe to say it’s a family and a land steeped in history. The Amoreau family were pioneers in the world of viniculture, educating themselves in the benefits of holistic farming methods such as the use of vegetal fertilisers and cooperage techniques at an early stage, with Barthélemy Amoreau questioning the necessity for the use of sulphites all the way back in the mid 19th century.

1932 saw the invention of the “fouilleuse” by Pierre-Robert Amoreau, a kind of mechanical plough, which enabled shallow cultivation of their soils, leaving its precious ecosystem undisturbed. The health of the vineyards flourished, and under the talented guidance of Paule Amoreau, (Jean-Pierre’s mother who had taken charge of the vineyards as all the men had been sent to war), the estate began to produce some of its best wines to date.

Throughout the 70’s a focus was made on enhancing the estates biodiversity even more, with some vines pulled up and replaced with ponds, flower meadows and woodlands.

1994 saw the birth of their iconic cuvée Barthélémy, and Le Puy became the first estate to introduce dynamisation in both the vineyard and the cellar. A truly unique process, dynamisation in the cellar involves stirring the wine two to three times a month (according to the lunar calendar) one way, and then the other way to create a vortex of chaos. This results in many things, (some tangible, some not so much!) most notably more texture, less sediment and a wine of intense intrigue…

The last 20 years have been full of exciting developments from the estate; introducing bees and re-introducing horse-power; analysing the wines through crystallisation; building their own in-house lab and further improving the eco-footprint of the estate…and more!

Le Puy are certified biodynamic by Demeter.