Château des Rontets, Pouilly-Fuissé "Clos Varambon", 2019

A stunning bottle of ‘Clos Varambon’ offered by an architect friend about a decade ago prompted an introduction to Château des Rontets.   

‘When I lived in Italy, I didn’t drink wine and I didn’t know I was destined to become a vigneron.’ These are the words of Fabio Montrasi, the Italian husband of Claire Gazeau. 

Fabio and Claire were architects in Milan when, in the mid-nineties, a family property in the village of Fuissé came into their lives.

Château des Rontets was built in the 1700s. The property has been in the Varambon family since the middle of the 1800s. Vines were already planted around the château and after the second world war, Claire’s uncle planted more vines in a wholehearted way.

Claire Gazeau, the great granddaughter of François Varambon fondly remembers spending holidays there. When the destiny of Château des Rontets was going to change forever and be sold, the Franco-Italian couple left their architecture careers behind and relocated to Fuissé. 

It’s quite simple to understand why Claire and Fabio abandoned Italy for Château des Rontets, such is the magic of the site, located on a hilltop overlooking the village of Fuissé. With breathtaking views over the Mâconnais region and its renowned Roche de Solutré, on a clear day your eyes could unexpectedly catch a glimpse of the Alps and even Mont Blanc…

After a short stint at the local viticulture school, and after numerous encounters with winegrowers from different regions, Claire and Fabio officially started their life at Château des Rontets in 1995. They converted themselves into farmers and winemakers. 

With great dexterity along with their architectural flair and expertise, the couple patiently restored the seven-hectare vineyard, while preserving the variety and diversity of the ecological system of their unique terroir perched at an altitude of 350 meters. A couple of parcels had been planted in the early 1900s. 

The rare walled-in vineyard is farmed according to biodynamic principles since 2005.  Their laborious and meticulous work in the vineyards aims at producing wines which reflect as best as possible the terroir and the specificity of each vintage, taking recent rapid climate change into consideration. ‘25 years ago, a ‘solar’ vintage was an exception in amongst rainy vintages. Nowadays it is the opposite.’ says Fabio.

Claire and Fabio highly respect their terroirs and their living environment. The vineyard’s day-to-day tasks are performed manually and, when it is required, with the help of their horse.

Grapes are hand-picked. In the cellar, their priority is to be loyal to the fruits of their work and efforts produced in the vineyards. Therefore, their winemaking is gentle in order to give birth to wines that are the antithesis of powerful, effusive, or ungraceful.

Their wines age on their lees for up to two years in oak barrels of various sizes, in the underground cellar of their home. 

Château des Rontet’s wines have pedigree. They are pure, intense, pristine, complex and well-balanced Burgundies with a clear sense of terroir. They are distinctive and singular. These days the Château des Rontet is renowned as the ‘diamond of the Mâconnais’.