Terres Falmet

For Yves Falmet, whose family comes from the Côtes de Bar in Champagne, tending to steep hillside vineyards is just a way of life. Yves owns 25 contiguous hectares of hillside vineyards in Cebazan, within the Saint-Chinian appellation in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Yves was able to acquire this rocky parcel planted on clay-limestone in 1996 because the other vignerons in the area, who sell to the local cooperative, had no interest in the amount of work it would take to maintain these steep hillside vineyards. As Yves says: “no one wanted the land. Its inclines made growing conditions extremely harsh and dangerous.” Starting with these rugged vineyards, Yves slowly recovered the vines and rehabilitated old farm buildings which he converted into a functional winery and cellar.

Yves, who has a poetic, philosophical, and worldly approach to working his vines, got his start studying science at the University in Montpellier which led to his first introduction to the Languedoc. From there he worked as an oenologist at Marris Wines in Australia, Mantanzas Creek in California, and Neudorf Winery in New Zealand. His peregrinations taught him a simple lesson: that good wine comes from good grapes. Yves, who is a bit of an iconoclast, describes his work in the vineyard as “rational ecology,” a form of tending the vines that goes beyond organics. “My work in the vineyard is based on daily reflections involving observation of the climate, plants and every detail that allows me to establish the requisite ‘diagnosis’ for the way I will intervene. My approach is pragmatic, responsible and above all anticipatory.”

While Yves’ vineyards are located within the St Chinian appellations, his wines are all declassified into Vin de France as monovarietal wines are not allowed within the AOC.