Combrillac - Florent Girou & Thien Uyen Do

The Combrillac vineyard is perched on a hill overlooking the Dordogne valley, near the town of Bergerac, in the heart of the Périgord Pourpre region.

The estate comprises 25 hectares in a single block, of which only 12 hectares are vineyards. The absence of fragmentation and through roads is therefore essential to avoid the fragmentation of ecosystems and ecological habitats.

A ring of tall trees surrounds the entire property, interspersed with natural meadows and hedgerows. At the heart of the estate are a raised bed area for medicinal and vegetable crops with permanent mulch (no tilling, no irrigation), 5 hectares of cereals (ancient wheat varieties), a hop yard, orchards with nearly 500 fruit trees (regional varieties as well as non-European ones – Siberian honeysuckle, pecan, Brazilian feijoa, Sichuan pepper, yuzu, etc. – to anticipate climate change), oak groves, and an acacia thicket from which we still source our vine stakes. Finally, areas deliberately left fallow are transitioning towards a forested state.

In 2022, we launched an ambitious vineyard forest project (vines intertwined with trees – vite maritata –) to envision a more sustainable and resilient alternative viticultural system. In 2024, we are creating a 0.5-hectare vineyard garden with hybrid grape varieties amidst an orchard and vegetable mounds.

Preserving biodiversity and varietal diversity, with the aim of mitigating vine monoculture, has been our greatest concern in our actions since we began working full-time in 2018. We practice organic and mindful farming, taking into account the ethical principles of permaculture (Earth Care, People Care, Future Care).

The wines are primarily aged in amphorae (around twenty in total, ranging from 400 to 900 liters) or in stainless steel tanks. Our barrels, now 10 years old, are used solely for fermentation (no oak aging). We are also experimenting with other containers such as stainless steel spheres.

As for the holy grail—namely, the quest for a wine without added sulfur—we believe it's essential to be consistent and, above all, transparent about the many other equally disreputable compensatory methods that can flourish in the shadows of a wine cellar. In recent years, a powerful narrative has emerged, fueled by a pervasive snobbishness surrounding a (pop) culture of sulfur-free wine. We certainly aim to minimize its use, which is still far too prevalent in the wine world today. But we prefer to add a small amount of sulfur at bottling and completely avoid all other, often unacknowledged, corrective methods rather than advocating for zero sulfur at all costs!

• *Hand-harvested only on the 12 planted hectares (no machines)
• *Grapes grown exclusively on our own land (no purchased grapes)
• *Native yeasts
• *Very low dose or absence of added sulfur (< 30 mg/litre of total SO2)
• *No corrective intervention in the cellar
• *Washable adhesive labels for integration into glass reuse programs, untreated natural cork