Domaine de Bellivière: A New Beginning
It was Eric’s wife Christine who encouraged him to give up his job in the petrochemical industry – he had a good job with Total Energies – and to take up his studies in oenology instead. Christine is originally from Marseille, and the two met when they were studying in Le Havre. Like Eric, Christine also had limited experience with wine, and it was through friends that their interest in wine and gastronomy grew. Eventually Eric downed tools and enrolled on a course in Montpellier, funded (somewhat surprisingly, to my mind) by his employer, an undertaking he completed in 1991. In the meantime Christine took a job nearby, working in exports. Thereafter they didn’t move too far, Eric working a stage at Domaine Pibarnon, as an oenologist at Château Sainte Marguerite, and then managing a co-operative, all valuable experience while he began the search for a vineyard of his own. He began his quest in the south at first (despite my words on his cool-climate ‘education’), and there was at least one false start before Eric decided to broaden the search. Eventually Eric came looking for vines along the banks of the Loir, a tributary of the Loire (via the Maine), spurred on after they encountered a bottle of Jasnières when a firend invited them for dinner.
It was not only the climate that was different this far north, so was the price of land. It is quite common to find newcomers to winemaking in the Loire Valley, affordable vineyard land being a major draw for many. The revitalisation of Montlouis that we have seen in recent years was only achievable because young enthusiasts such as Xavier Weisskopf and Bertrand Jousset could afford to settle there, and to rent or even buy the vines they required. Here in Jasnières and the Coteaux du Loir land prices are also within the reach of many. And so it was Eric and Christine decided to settle here.
