Domaine Augustin

“When I get asked to present Domaine Augustin, I tend to let the bear inside all the men who have spent a lot of time alone, outside, express himself.
I often reply, it’ s me… Augustin. Well in fact, it’s more than just me.
First of all, it’s my father, who taught me the love for this job, here in Banyuls, this old-fashioned vineyard, not to say downright ancient, as it is very old. It is also the family estate, where I worked during my holidays when I was a child, first preparing the orders, in the cool cellar and then, when the strength finally came, in the vineyard, in the midday sun, with my father’s workers. I still remember my first day of work at Col Perdiguer, a tough time.

However, it was this job that I chose to start off in life.
I spent 3 years on the family estate, 3 years with these workers who were the first to teach me the gestures that allowed me to prune, graft, hoe, plough, tie…

It was also during those years that, for the first time, I was taught how to work in a winery: pressing, pumping over, punching down, topping up, and all the other gestures that lead grapes to make wine.

After those 3 years, I felt the need to give myself some time to see elsewhere before coming back. I wanted to figure out why I would come back.
It was at Jean Thévenet’s, in Quintaine, that for the first time I worked outside the family nest, outside the clan. The dislocation was gentle, Jean welcomed me like a son, and we still have a very special relationship.

The rest of my apprenticeship was with Frédéric Mugnier in Chambolle. I stayed there for two years during which I completed a BTS in viti-oenology in Beaune.

I never told him, but a few weeks after arriving, one evening during the harvest, before dinner, Frédéric poured us a Musigny 2001 in the middle of the office that served as a dining room during the harvest. That evening, in the middle of the grape pickers, the atmosphere was great. One that can only be found after a busy day when everyone feels they have given their best. This wine, that evening, was not noticed. I tasted it and promised myself to pay particular attention to the work that was done here. For it is a combination of small things, small efforts, sometimes repeated for many generations, that make the difference.
Rich in these experiences in Burgundy, a land of choice where the terroir has the place of the king, I began my return home by going to work in the Corbières at Pierre Borie, in Boutenac. Where, I learned the determination of those who have something to prove and the strength of a smile.

So I came back home in February 2014, and I wanted, from this little story, to write the continuation with the creation of Domaine Augustin.
So as you now know, Domaine Augustin is not just about me, but about all these stories. And others that I will gladly tell you over a bottle of wine.