I was saddened to learn yesterday of the passing of Jean-Louis Vacheron, one of two brothers who did much to create the Domaine Vacheron we know today. Jean-Louis passed away on December 25th.

While the origins of Domaine Vacheron can be traced back to Maurice Vacheron in the early years of the 20th century, at the time the business was little more than a typical Ligérian smallholding, vines co-existing with other crops and livestock. It was his son Jean who steered the family business towards wine, but it was Maurice’s grandsons Jean-Louis (pictured below) and Denis who built this small estate up into one of the biggest and most important names in Sancerre.

Jean-Louis Vacheron began working on the family’s vineyards in the mid-1960s. At this time they had just 3 hectares to play with, but he and Denis would expand, in the process creating an impressive vineyard which, by the 1980s, covered 30 hectares. If you were drinking Vacheron Sancerre during the 1970s and 1980s, it was the wines of Jean-Louis and Denis that you were drinking.

The consolidation of the domaine by Jean-Louis was the foundation for its current standing, with the next generation in charge, in the shape of Jean Louis’ son Jean-Dominique and his nephew (Denis’ son) Jean-Laurent. They planted vineyards now inherently associated with the domaine, created a high-quality selection of cuvées parcellaires, and shifted the domaine into biodynamics. Great achievements, but none of this would have been possible without the efforts of Jean-Louis Vacheron.

I last saw Jean-Louis more than a few years ago, at the Salon des Vins de Loire, where I took the photograph above. He was his usual approachable and avuncular self, and will doubtless be missed by many.

There is a religious ceremony on December 30th in the church of Sancerre. My condolences go to all the Vacheron family.