Château Dauphiné Rondillon
Beautiful Loupiac wines and a family passion that lasts for 8 generations
Telling the story of Château Dauphiné Rondillon is narrating the passion of a family that now lasts for 8 generations. The property covers 64 hectares. They are located for the most part in Loupiac but also in Cadillac and in Graves’ appellation. The history of the property dates back to 1798. At the time the property was already producing dry white wines, however, nothing suggested that sweet wines were already produced. However the ” Dauphiné Rondillon ” was not created until 1927.
Today J. Darriet vineyards is composed of 6 wineries located in Bordeaux, Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux, Loupiac and Graves. Vineyards are managed by Sandrine Darriet Froléon and Jean-Christophe Darriet. They are assisted in their task by their brother Philippe Darriet well as their sister Sophie Duvert.
“Our father, Guy Darriet, was a chemical engineer passionate about vines and wines. He always had the desire to protect our land, terroir. Indeed he has worked to manage revenues in the vineyard, the proper management of maturities and biodiversity. It has contributed significantly to the expansion of the vineyard through the repurchases of Château des Gravières and Château Rouquette.
As I told you he was a chemical engineer of the class of oenologists of 1950 and the first class of Bordeaux Winemakers in 1950! He wanted to deepen his knowledge and validate acquired. Thanks to this sensitivity our soils and terroirs are low nitrogen, ‘pure’ healthy unsaturated copper. His motto was to produce good grapes to make good wine.
Today we have a good family synergy. I am a chemist by training, Jean-Christophe is a mechanical engineer, our brother Philippe Darriet is a professor and researcher at the Institute of Vine and Wine and our sister Sophie Duvert, training pharmacy helps us marketing of wines in the Paris region. This strong synergy family is a force!
My brother and I have grown on the property. We always bathed in this atmosphere of work in the vineyard, harvest and work in the winery. While it is true that there is a long family heritage since we are present in the world of vines and wine for 8 generations, our parents left us very free in our choices. But deep inside them I think they hoped that their children would repeat the family vineyards. Besides, before Jean-Christophe (1997) and I (1999) came back to the property we started to work in entirely different things but ultimately this link vines, with the Loupiac brought us the Dauphiné Rondillon. “(Sandrine Darriet Froléon)
Where does the name of Château Dauphiné Rondillon come from?
“Our grandparents were married in 1927. Then, they returned to Château Dauphiné which belonged to the family of my grandmother (Denise Darriet) and the vineyards that belonged to the uncle of my grandmother. The vines plots were located on the Rondillon place. At the time it was a famous hill for its quality and the house was called Dauphiné. So they naturally added the name of the vineyard to the existing Château. “(Sandrine Darriet Froléon & Jean-Christophe Darriet)
If you had to define your passion for wine, what would you say?
“Generosity and friendliness, kindness and learn to listen to the soil. Compassion must be understood in the general sense. That is to say, it takes as much care about the well being of the vine of man. Wine is a whole! “(Sandrine Darriet Froléon & Jean-Christophe Darriet)
Can you introduce us / summarize Château Dauphiné Rondillon and family wineries in a few words?
“Nobility of the product, a divine side / transcendental pleasure. The Dauphiné Rondillon’s wine expresses the story of a vineyard, a family and a transgenerational side.
This transgenerational link in wine keeps us much to heart. It is not expressed only in our family but also our customers. Many of our customers open our wines because their parents or grandparents have discovered them before.
I’ll finish to answer the question by saying ‘enthusiasm’. “(Sandrine Darriet Froléon & Jean-Christophe Darriet)
What is your signature in your wine ? What allows to recognize your wines in a blind tasting ?
Regarding Loupiac wines of the Château Dauphiné Rondillon “Wanted wines with concentration, acidity, nice balance, a beautiful matter and structure. It has beautiful acidity in our wines but always in balance with the fruit and matter. It is often candied pineapple notes. The palate is very tonic. These are wines that have a good ability to age.
A Japanese teacher told us one day that our wines have the unami. It’s a beautiful compliment!
In our vineyards Botrytis appears quickly compared to other AOC Bordeaux. This is probably due to our land, our exposure to South-South West and our altitude (100meters). On our terroir, very good years, botrytis can develop and focus in 7 days, 5 days exceptional years!
Our wines of Château Moutin (Graves) they have a strong Saint-Emillion style. We are on blend with 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. The uniqueness of this blend reflects the uniqueness of our grape varieties. These are old vines planted in 1962 and it does not resolve to pull to replant Cabernet because it is precisely with old Merlot that expresses the essence of this wonderful grape. In wine we find a nice tannic structure coated with the concentration of merlot.” (Sandrine Darriet Froléon & Jean-Christophe Darriet)
For my part I would say that Loupiac wines from the Château Dauphiné Rondillon are characterized by a great freshness, a certain richness / concentration and a relatively high acidity but does not attack the palate because they are well-balanced. Notes of crunchy pear, pineapple, tarte Tatin aromas and are frequently found in these wines.
Do you have any special plans for the Château Dauphiné Rondillon ?
” Yes of course ; continue to produce sweet LOUPIAC wines. We also want to continue working with its development includingworkshops Loupiac and food pairings. “(Sandrine Darriet Froléon)
These workshops that perform throughout the year Sandrine and Jean-Christophe used to show consumers and professionals that Loupiac can enjoy miles of ways, not just with foie gras. For example a recent workshop Loupiac and Japanese dishes (Yuzu, Wasabi …) was performed.
“This allows us to continue making work done by previous generations.” They also seek to sustain, protect the beautiful terroir, the work tool of generations by increasing protection of their vineyards.
“We are in farming but in our practice we are very close to Bio, we use external products; we do not saturate the floor with chemicals or copper, biodiversity is promoted, no weeding … All this has led us to integrate the EMS. It is currently being certified, it should be in June 2016. ” (Jean-Christophe Darriet)
Side anecdote: Château Dauphiné Rondillon and “Drops of God“
In 2009 Château Dauphiné Rondillon appeared in the famous series-manga “Drops of God” (Album No. 24, page 46). In this album tasting this wine Loupiac reminds the famous festival Shizuku Japanese girls.
“In September 2009, the writers of Drops of God participated in the Medoc Marathon and tasted Dauphiné-Rondillon in Japan and they wished to visit the property. We received them, made them discover the history of our wines, our family and then we proposed a vertical tasting of our vintages of 1937-2007.
With this manga our wine, which was already on the Japanese market has become very popular and requested. It has become a very important market for us.
Recently we received a famous Japanese actress Maki Horikita. We are happy and proud of this meeting! She came to visit Bordeaux and discover some properties but she left with just one bottle in his luggage: a Loupiac Château Dauphiné Rondillon! “(Sandrine Darriet Froléon)
This Château has a strong link with Japan and the Japanese culture that can not simply be explained by the manga “Drops of God” for business opportunities or the great possible marriages between Loupiac and Japanese cuisine but also by the passion of Sandrine Darriet-Froléon for this “land of the rising sun” (Nihon in Japanese).
Another anecdote: It was possible to enjoy a Château Dauphiné Rondillon 1937 thanks to grandfather Sandrine and Jean-Christophe. He was called up as a soldier in the French Army in 1937. Before to go to the front lines, the grandfather bottled the 1937 vintage and thought the bottle to hide behind a brick wall in the cellar to avoid looting in case of French defeat. Passionate and visionary subterfuge allowed her family to keep several bottles of old vintages, including 1937.
Thanks to Sandrine and Jean-Christophe Darriet for their hospitality
Choukroun Chicheportiche Jonathan
Château Dauphine-Rondillon
Vignobles J. Darriet
Instead said Rondillon
33410 Loupiac
+33 (0) 5.56.62.61.75
