Collection: Domaine Château Bonnet

In 1973 the Perrachon family of winemakers bought Château Bonnet, a hunting lodge established in 1630 in the villages of Chénas. Pierre-Yves restored the castle and expanded the vineyards where they today produce Gamay in the Beaujolais Crus of Juliénas, Chénas, Saint Amour and Moulin-á-Vent. In 2004 the winery passed to Pierre-Yves who works with his daughter, Charlotte, and son, Julien, making great Beaujolais wines.  The young winemaker, Julien, met Paul over another shared passion, drumming! 

Pierre-Yves is the president of the very small Chénas appelation where the family owns over 50% of the vineyards.  The vineyards are managed according to "lutte raisonnee",  shredding pruned vines on the vineyard floor to reduce erosion, and using mostly non-chemical products  Some vineyards have flowering strips planted between rows, attracting beneficial insects. They are also certified by the independent Terra Vitis environmental charter and are in the first year of conversion to organic certification.

All of the vines are head trained and harvest is done exclusively by hand.  Maceration to extract color, tannin and aroma lasts between 6 and 21 days. Wines are fermented mostly in concrete tanks and aged 10 to 12 months, some in large format 228L barrels. Only 60,000 bottles are produced per year.