Collection: Domaine Plaisance Penavayre

Domaine Plaisance Penavayre

The Penavayre family has cultivated vines in Vacquiers for several generations. Initially agricultural activity was shared between vines, animals, and fruit trees, but in 1971, Louis Penavayre - a self-taught wine grower - converted the entire farm (~ 7Ha) to vines and making wine. Wine culture continued to develop for the family and so Marc - the son of Louis and the current owner - obtained his engineering degree from ENITA as well as an oenologist diploma in 1985. This was also the year of the first bottling of estate wine.

In 1991, as Marc took over from his father, the estate grew to16 hectares. Avoiding modern winemaking techniques, Marc focused on gentle and natural cultivation. Marc’s goals are: to work with the vines as close as possible to the terroir; without fertilizers or herbicides; favouring natural products; harvesting very ripe, very healthy grapes; and, vinifications using indigenous yeasts. The wines are neither fined nor filtered.

2006 was the first vintage under organic conversion, with certification from Quality France in 2011. Marc also follows biodynamic principles but is not certified. Vineyards have grown to 30 hectares, and today the estate produces around 150,000 bottles. Marc now works with his son, Thibaut.

The southeast vineyards are located on the highest terraces of Tarn (altitude 220m), within Fronton AOP. The old, heavily eroded clay/gravel/pebbly soils have a high proportion of silica and quartz. These sparse, relatively acidic soils are best suited for growing vines, and confer an average vigour to the plant, allowing a natural regulation of yield and the achievement of a maximum quality.