Loyalty to the Ténarèze soil goes back a long way in the Fezas family. Six generations have strived over the last 150 years to continually improve the quality of their wines.
The longevity of the domaine is due to a family obstinacy which has overcome numerous setbacks. The vines have survived the Phylloxera outbreak in 1893, which ravaged the French wine heritage. The domaine was already producing the famous vintage wine whose reputation marked the end of the century.
At the beginning of the 20th century, between the two wars, it was Alban SOURBÈS who owned the estate. It was then taken over in 1935 by his niece, Suzanne CAPMARTIN, and her husband, Albert FEZAS. Plans to extend the vineyard were hindered by the Second World War, forcing Suzanne and Albert to rethink their plans on a smaller scale. It was in 1969, under the impetus of Michel and Arlette FEZAS, that the business was restructured and significantly enlarged.
At that time, Armagnac was the cornerstone of the business, but this was later to be accompanied by other drink products. 1977 saw the start of direct sales in bottles from the domaine, as well as the production and sale of Floc de Gascogne.
In 1993, Philippe, the eldest child of the last generation and trained as an Agricultural Engineer and Oenologist, was convinced that Chiroulet would one day produce great local wines. An enthusiast of maturing wine in wooden casks and in love with his native land, he very quickly succeeded in making the grapes and their different terroirs express themselves.
According to him: "a great wine is like a piece of music, the more notes there are, the more beautiful the symphony". It is thus that the young wine-maker started composing the master vine of future red blends, in the key of Merlot. When it comes to white wine, Philippe Fezas quickly understood that the great white wines in France come from chalky soil.
He therefore chose the "Peyrusquet", a chalky outcrop called "Retzine", for producing his white wines which exhibit a floral and mineral profile.Shortly after being produced, the first bottles were quickly spotted by the major critics in the world of wine, and Chiroulet can today pride itself on being considered as a wine of character.
Domaine Chiroulet
