It was during a summer vacation on a property in the Entre deux Mers region, at the age of 14, that I discovered wine and the conviviality it brings. It is thus quite naturally and progressively that my interest in wine turned into a passion to the point of making it my profession. My career started in 1979, and from 1982 I turned to the trade of great and very great wines. Tastings were frequent, this market seemed to be tailor-made for me, but after almost 20 years, I regularly met people so competent in viticulture and winemaking that I felt the importance of my shortcomings and the need to learn. To do this, I acquired in early 1997, in association with a Bordeaux broker, the Château Les Grands Maréchaux in Saint Girons d’Aiguevives. On the technical side, we enlisted the help of Stéphane Derenoncourt, then Cellar Master at Pavie Macquin and secretly preparing the first vintage of La Mondotte. Our first en primeur marketing in Bordeaux was so successful that the following year we acquired another property, Château Gigault, this time in association with Stéphane Derenoncourt. As an anecdote, our first vintage, the 1998, was hailed by the press and in particular by Robert Parker who commented: “The potential of the best Côtes de Blaye ever produced”. Between 2002 and 2008, I bought the shares of my partners, and from 2009, the demands for export and especially in China became important. In 2011, I hear about a very famous terroir in Cars which arrives on the market. The deal is closed in 30 minutes and I will call it Château Belle Coline in honor of my daughter Coline. At the end of 2020, I will retire from my activity as a wine merchant to devote myself to my three vineyards located in the most underestimated appellation of Bordeaux.

Stéphane Derenoncourt is a winemaker-consultant who works in more than 140 estates in Bordeaux, France and around the world. Originally from the North of France, Stéphane Derenoncourt arrived in the Bordeaux region in 1982. Self-taught, he made wooden toys and worked regularly in the vineyard. In 1985, he met Paul Barre who taught him the winegrowing profession and introduced him to biodynamic agriculture. This meeting brought meaning to the winegrower’s profession and Stéphane quickly became cellar master of the châteaux La Grave, La Fleur Cailleau and Moulin Pey Labrie. In 1990, he became cellar master at Château Pavie Macquin and revealed, thanks to his different technical experiences, the wines of the château. Stefan Von Neipperg, owner of Château Canon La Gaffelière, then called on him and together they created Mondotte, which became a worldwide success. Thanks to this notoriety, Stéphane acquired a solid reputation as a wine expert and a professional respect in the wine world. In 1999, he decided to found his own consulting company, Vignerons Consultants, and acquired his own property in Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Domaine de l’A. At the same time, Stéphane advised more and more estates in Bordeaux, France and abroad. Faced with this growing demand, he gathered around him a team of consultants trained in his philosophy. In 2010, 3 of them are associated to the consulting company which becomes Derenoncourt Consultants. Today, the company has 5 partners and a technical team of 12 consultants. The transmission of Stéphane Derenoncourt’s philosophy and the sharing of know-how works, the team follows 146 properties around the world and offers a unique global advice, based on the optimal expression of the terroir. The methodology based on observation, good viticultural sense and the search for the balance of the wines ensures a quality accompaniment, the company becomes a label of international excellence. Described as an atypical consultant, self made man, Stéphane Derenoncourt is passionate, whole and creative. A rock fanatic, he presents the soundtrack of his life and the people around him in the book Wine On Tour in vinyl format. A globetrotter of vineyards, he travels the world and enjoys the freedom and openness that travel brings.