Paul-Henri is a force of nature with a strong character. He was only 22 years old when starting from nothing, he decided to settle down on the appellation of Chénas in Beaujolais, in 2008. He first started out as a Burgundy wine merchant in the business of selling grapes, but as this was unrewarding, decided to throw himself completely into the adventure of organic winemaking. This choice made him a sort of a rebel in a region plagued by chemistry and a productivist culture. His audacity and communicative “joie de vivre” (joy of life) encouraged his brother Charles to join him in 2012, followed by his youngest brother Jean-Baptiste in 2017 and finally his sister Aude in 2018. In 2014, the estate became Paul-Henri and Charles Thillardon, a sign of the complicity of the two brothers.
Today, they cultivate their twelve hectares of vines, spread over the Appellations of Chénas, Moulin à Vent and Chiroubles. They work in organic and biodynamic agriculture and as such even use a horse for plowing between rows. Vinification is done separately and selectively, plot by plot.
Paul-Henri and Charles give free rein to their curiosity in the cellar, they are open to everything (except thermovinification) and experiment a lot while always maintaining discipline and precision.
Their goal is to reveal the different soils of Beaujolais through their wine, such as pink granite in a particular “Crus” (vintage) or hints of sandy and alluvial soil from the plains. Most importantly they hope to demonstrate the noble character of Gamay and of its importance as a varietal.
