Château des Rontets

France / Pouilly-Fuisse

Fabio Montrasi and Claire Gazeau were successful architects living and working in Italy when the latter’s uncle, the owner of the Château des Rontets and its surrounding vineyard, passed away in the mid-1990s.  After careful deliberation, the couple decided to bid farewell to their careers, move to Rontets in the Mâconnais, and learn how to make wine. The name Rontets refers to the 5.5-hectare lieu-dit as well as to the estate itself, the vineyard enjoying an altitude of 350 meters and sloping, ever so gently, towards the north.  Not only does this offer an absolutely breathtaking view of Fuissé, but it also makes for a unique and benign mesoclimate for the slow, balanced and even precarious ripening of Chardonnay grapes.