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About Domaine Grégoire Hoppenot
Domaine Grégoire Hoppenot: New Beaujolais from “…One of the region’s most exciting emerging talents” [William Kelley]
“[Hoppenot] emphasizes the importance of texture among his aesthetic priorities. The results are perfumed, supple and charming. With three vintages under his belt to date, he hasn’t missed a beat so far, and Hoppenot gets my nod as one of the region’s most exciting emerging talents.” William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
“I would tip Grégoire Hoppenot to develop into a major player in the appellation.” Jasper Morris MW, Inside Burgundy
“Hoppenot is a bit of a star,” Jancis Robinson MW
“Grégoire Hoppenot is to be followed closely… A great future in Fleurie!” La Revue du Vin de France
For a winemaker who was yet to prune a vine in 2017, Grégoire Hoppenot has made a hell of start. After releasing his second vintage, Hoppenot was crowned with the prestigious Newcomer of the Year award by France’s La Revue du Vin de France, and the critical accolades have flowed on from there. Indeed, when we met this young grower at his domaine earlier this week, he humbly expressed surprise that no less than five Australian importers had contacted him in the last six months. Fortunately, we got our foot in the door early.
Although light on practical experience initially, Hoppenot knows these hills well. Before founding his domaine, Hoppenot was régisseur at Chapoutier’s Burgundy arm, Maison Trénel. Previously he had made the wines at Vignerons de Bel-Air, a 100-year-old cooperative with 250 growers on its roster. Following his dream to start a family estate, Grégoire left Trénel in 2017 to earn his growing stripes with Pierre-Marie Chermette.
The plan was to work with the region’s great growers for several years while piecing together enough vineyards to strike out on his own. Lady luck had other ideas. No sooner than he started working with Chermette, Hoppenot caught wind of the impending lease of Domaine Les Roches de Garants, the estate of the retiring Jean-Paul Champagnon. To cut a long story short, despite many suitors, Champagnon was impressed with the energetic young grower’s vision for the estate and his plans to convert all the vineyards to organics. The documents were signed early in 2018.
Hoppenot confessed to us that the idea of going from zero to taking on nine hectares was a daunting one. Working with organics is central to Hoppenot’s philosophy, and while applying an organic regime in old Goblet vines—where a tractor cannot be used—is tough enough at the best of times, doing so on the steep hillsides of Les Garants and Poncié is another matter altogether. Have you ever wondered why there are so few organic domaines in Beaujolais? Indeed, during negotiations with Champagnon, Hoppenot had asked whether the retiring grower would be willing to split the vineyards down the middle, and he would take half? The answer was no, yet Hoppenot knew he could not walk away given the terroirs in question.
