Cave Yves Cuilleron

Winery

About Winery

"For three generations, wine has been part of my family history, on my mother’s and father’s sides. My paternal grandfather established the estate in 1920. By 1947, he was selling his wine in bottles. In 1960, my uncle Antoine Cuilleron became the estate manager. In 1987, when I took over running it, I decided to settle in Verlieu, my mother’s home village.

Without a rigorous approach, passion is not enough. And so I wanted to understand and control everything. To be sure my wines are totally home-made, I have rejected off-the-shelf ideas, refused to copy others. Since the start, I have personally monitored every stage of production, from vine-planting to wine-bottling. This exacting, hands-on attitude means I am constantly thinking about my tools and facilities. Hence the new cellar built in Verlieu in 1992, then extended in 1999. And the major construction and extension programme in 2007. Everything has been redesigned – the buildings for vinification, maturating, storage and reception. In a nutshell, I focus on everything. That’s the price you pay for quality."

- Yves Cuilleron

Yves Cuilleron

Yves Cuilleron, is described by Wine Spectator as "the leader of Condrieu's new generation of winemakers." Yves represents the 4th generation of Cuilleron vignerons although he initially trained as a engineer. The lure of the vine proved too hard to resist and after a year's training at the Ecole Viticole in Macon he took over the vineyards in 1987.

Since then he has built an entirely new winery at Chavany facility while at the same time he acquired additional vineyard property. The domaine now produces about 50,000 bottles annually divided between the appellations of St. Joseph Blanc, St. Joseph Rouge, Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu.

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