Couly-Dutheil: Bertrand & Arnaud Couly
Pierre had a son named Bertrand, while Jacques had a son name Arnaud. With time the two cousins would both come to work in the family business, the older Bertrand joining first, in 1986, having completed his wine studies in Montpellier followed by work in Pomerol, Oregon and Châteauneuf du Pape. Arnaud Couly joined the team much later, and I suspect with a very different outlook. He came with a degree in business management rather than a wine qualification, but followed this up with time spent in California and on Long Island.
At about this time the family invested in new cellars on the Rue Diderot, in the eastern corner of the town. For the time this was a state-of-the-art winemaking facility, the fruit lifted to the highest level by truck and conveyor belt, and then moving down through the various levels of the winery by gravity flow. This new facility was largely built above-ground, but also extended deep underground into the 12th-century cellars. These cellars were originally excavated to provide stone for the collegiate church of Saint-Mexme (the patron saint of Chinon), now deconsecrated, but which still stands right next to the Couly-Dutheil cellars and offices.
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