Jo Pithon & Jo Paillé
Jo’s response to the fracturing of the original Jo Pithon domaine was to start afresh, entering into a partnership with his stepson Jo Paillé, the pair aided in everything by their wives, Isabelle and Wendy. Together the quartet created a new venture, part traditional domaine, starting with those few hectares of vines owned by Jo Senior, and part négociant business, adding other wines from Anjou and even Touraine to the new Pithon-Paillé portfolio.
Starting out with very little, Jo Pithon and Jo Paillé (pictured below, in the domaine’s upper parcel in the Quarts de Chaume vineyard) were short not just of vineyards but also equipment, cellars and facilities. Initially they set up in the outbuildings of Château La Fresnaye, which belongs to Philippe Baudin, a long-standing associate of Jo Pithon. As Baudin had long since ceased making wine the cellars and equipment were available for Pithon, who once worked alongside Baudin, to use. Jo Paillé and wife Wendy took up residence in the large, draughty and allegedly haunted rooms of the château. Here they resided for two years, no doubt enjoying the proximity to their fermenting vats, but also no doubt aware of the need to locate their own more permanent facilities.
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