The Bretaudeaus own 33 hectares located on some beautiful hills above the Sangueze river, 36 kms east of Nantes and property vineyards are scattered in three different sub-areas.

• 16 ha in Muscadet Sèvre et Maine and the grape variety cultivated is Melon de Bourgogne as a reference to Bourgogne area where this variety comes from.
• 2 hectare in Gros Plant du Pays Nantais with its variety Folle Blanche.
• 15 hectares in Vin de Pays du Val de Loire: this includes 5 ha of Chardonnay, 2 ha of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, 1 hectare of Gamay, 4,5 ha of Sauvignon Gris and Sauvignon Blanc, 1 ha Pinot Gris and 1 ha Merlot.
• Recently, three new grape varieties were planted: Colombard, Gewurtztramminer, Pinot Noir and Grolleau Gris.

Jean-Yves produces yearly between 80.000 and 90.000 bottles, including vintage Muscadet Sèvre & Maine sur Lie that are sold when aged, and a few other wines like Gros Plant in small quantity. He also sells part of his wines in Bag in Box for French bars and wine shops. The remaining production is sold as fruit or wine to negociants. Jean-Yves’ father was the first in the family to start bottling his wines in the estate with his own name and Jean-Yves has developed pretty much this part of the business.
Needless to say Muscadet plays a major role in the domaine production. Within the family’s vineyards the two far most points are located at 8 kilometers from each other. The common key element is that some of the vines are older than 50 years and planted on different type of soils. Basically two different soils are present in Colombier’s vineyards:

• Light and pebbly soils (gneiss, gabbro) suitable for early maturity grapes producing fruity and straightforward wines;
• Clayey soils: allowing longer maturity on the vines and giving way to wines more influenced by terroir, more structured, and with good length on the palate.

From the oldest plots, up to 90 years old, Jean-Yves has been making since 2016 a new Muscadet Sèvre & Maine sur Lie, “L’envol”. With a deep minerality and a long ageing capacity, this new cuvee takes definitely part of the future of the winery.

Combining innovation and tradition in the cellar is definitely a remarkable key element here in Loire Valley, where growers enjoy conviviality and gastronomy, often producing wines capable of great pairings and trying to respect, at the same time, basic organic rules pillars even when not certified. The estate has been approving Vignerons Independants de France Chart for more than 25 years.

Since 2012, the Haute Valeur Environnementale (High Environmental Value) certification allows farms to assess their skills by respecting the territory while preserving a natural ecosystem. Regularly checked by an authorized third part institution, certification validity is for 3 years and It’s based on performance indicators for biodiversity, pest control strategy, fertilization management. Colombier is part of this program.

Biodiversity: The vineyard has everything to gain by developing in a varied natural system. Groves, hedges, banks, flowers, small rivers play a role in defense against pests and climatic hazards. These vegetative systems provide habitat for insects, but also birds and reptiles, which are natural predators of many pests of the vine.

Pest control management: The plant health strategy is developed in order to make every effort to reduce the use of chemicals sprayed on the vines. Among other treatments, a successful and risky technique implemented on some estate domaine vineyard greatly helped to reduce fungicides doses up to 40 to 50%. This technique is called “Sexual Confusion”.
How can we protect vineyards from the dreaded vine moth larvae without using insecticides? These larvae can cause significant damage to grapes and create gateways to disease. To contain the populations of this insect is used an approved for organic farming technique. The fight by “mating disruption” is the answer. In order to be fertilized, the female moths release of sex hormones (or pheromones) that enable males to locate them more easily. Every year, a number of diffusers are placed in order to release a high dose of female pheromones in the vineyards. These pheromone traps confuse male moths and prevent them from finding their mates. Since there is no mating, the eggs aren’t fertilized, and don’t hatch. This hormone is absolutely safe. In fact, it’s nothing more than a reconstituted “smell”. All this requires old agricultural wisdom, daily vines observation and strict support from biologists technicians.

Nantes is a bit the French version of Seattle: green and rainy with streets packed with gastropubs and modern places where to eat Brittany oysters. There is a distinct pride in producing Muscadet although this variety has had a bit of a branding problem. It has always had that reputation of pairing well with all kinds of seafood (and oysters more than other), but because of overproduction, poor quality, and careless negociants, the region exported an inferior product for years so its status has been on the wain. The good news is that like most regions in France that have suffered a similar fate, there are holdouts and new recruits that are turning out very high quality wines that could be some of the best value you’ll find. Colombier wines are under the spot light for never being affected by a mediocre curve in the level production, a problem that hits especially entry level wines from many local producers. Commitment to consistent quality is everything to Jean Yves since its first steps at the helm of the winery.

For a region as misunderstood as west Loire and its Muscadet, the implementation of a cru system may seem a little over ambitious but this was the only way to revitalize the stagnant situation. The idea was to create a “quality pyramid” for want of a better expression. Generic Muscadet forms the base, with Muscadet from the regions of Sèvre & Maine, Coteaux de la Loire and Côtes de Grandlieu providing a middle and finally the new crus communaux being the apex wines.                                                                                                               At first only 3 crus have been recognised by the INAO in 2011. Situated in the Sèvre & Maine sub-region of the Nantais, they cover the villages of Gorges, Clisson and Le Pallet. Than 4  more villages in the area had been recognised in 2014 – Goulaine, Monnieres-St-Fiacre, Château Thébaud and Mouzillon-Tillieres.

Jean Yves and his father committed in this new appellation development already 15 years ago with the aim to get the local terroir recognized. First step was to show how specific were the cuvées the domaine developed: It all starts with selected plots, marked by real soil complexity, typical from their terroir, capable to produce wine with ageing potential. The Muscadet Mouzillon-Tillière was born on hills above Sangueze river, on gabbro and amphibolites subsoil. Gabbro is a magma rock with exceptional density. Settled on this sub soil, the vines take time to get ready: winegrowers from this place are most of the time the last ones to harvest Muscadet from Sèvre & Maine area! This is absolutely necessary to obtain plain maturity of grapes. For the same reason, Colombier wines require a long maturation time on the lees, to fully express their typical minerality. Jean Yves Mouzillon-Tillières is an elegant and powerful wine, with thyme and spices notes. 

Thought to be an older version of the Sauvignon Blanc varietal, though there is some conjecture as to which is the chicken and which is the egg. Sauvignon Gris has more of a pinkish hue to its skin (it is also known as Sauvignon Rosé) and has similar levels of acidity as that of Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Gris does produce fruit with higher sugar levels than its cousin, which contribute to greater aromatics and a more rich and round feel to the wines. At one point these wines were highly prized yet due to the ridiculously low yields that the grape produces it almost became extinct. Currently it is enjoying a small revival in the Loire valley and in the Graves region of Bordeaux. This particular mutation of Sauvignon Blanc is also known as Fié or Fiét. 

In a nutshell Steep Hill imports 7 wines from Domaine du Colombier: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, the unusual Sauvignon Gris, Cabernet Franc Rosè, plus the entry level Muscadet “Cuvee des Deux Colombes”, the Muscadet L’Envol (old vines), and the cru Mouzillon-Tillieres.

Sauvignon Blanc 2019: Coming from a small vineyard of 2 ha planted with young vines averaging 15 years. This is an IGP – Vin de Pays du Val de Loire produced yearly in 12.000 bts. Viticulture: sustainable pest control, removing green bunches of grapes, thinning out of the leaves, dubbled bud removing. Mechanical harvesting with sorting out table. Vinification: 100 % of the must underwent skin maceration during 5 hours followed by cold settling. Fermentation took place for 15 days, then underground tiled tanks ageing with two rackings until following March.

Chardonnay 2019: This is another IGP – Vin de Pays du Val de Loire produced yearly in 12.000 bts. Located in  Beaulieu, vineyards dimensions are 3,5 in total averaging 15 years of age. The Chard is raised from vines trained with sustainable pest control by removing green bunches of grapes. Vinification: 100% of the must had a skin contact maceration during 6 hours followed by cold settling. Long fermentation process for 25 days at 18°C temperature control. Malolactic fermentation done. This wine matures 100% in underground tiled  tanks, with 2 rackings. Bottled during spring after the harvest.

Sauvignon Gris 2019: Coming from 2,5 ha vineyards (plots located at le Colombier and Beaulieu) with vines ageing 13 years. This is an IGP Vin de Pays du Val de Loire produced outside the classic appellation system. Production levels are up to 16.000 bts per year. Viticulture: sustainable pest control, removing green bunches of grapes. Vinification: 100% of the wine had a skin maceration during 5 hours followed by cold settling. Temperature maintained at 18°C. Fermentation length: 20 days. Maturating: 100% in underground tiled tank, with 2 rackings. Bottled in February.

Cabernet Franc Rose 2019: With only 8.000 bts per year this is a limited production rose made out of Cabernet Franc (85%) and with a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon and labeled as IGP Val de Loire. The vineyard is a small one (1,5 ha) with vines ageing 20 years. Vinification: Direct pressing followed by cold setting. Fermented during 20 days at 18°C, it matures 100% in underground tiled tanks with 2 rackings. History tells us that Cabernet Franc arrived in Loire through the Nantes harbor; this would be the reason why it is also called “Breton” in the Loire Valley, as Nantes was in Brittany.

Muscadet Sur Lie “Deux Colombes” 2019: Coming from the family biggest vineyard (9 ha). Grapes ar grownin two separate plots: one averaging 30 years, while the second one and 45 years. This is the most popular Domaine offering with 14.000 bts produced yearly. 30% of the must underwent skin contact for few hours followed by cold setting. Fermentation process last 20 days, Lees stirring (once a week for the 1^stmonth thend decreased to twice a month for the following 3 months). Maturing: 100 % in tank, on the lees during 6 months. Hence “Sur lie” is mentioned on the front label as this wine is bottled in mid March and does not exceed French appellation system ageing terms.

Muscadet Sur Lie L’Envol 2018: The fruit sourced for this wine comes from two small plots (1,5 hectares only), the first one planted on mica schist averaging 90 years, while the second one (Le Bas Gas),  planted on gabbro soil, is slightly younger (50 years). The wine has been macerated on the skins for 8 hours. Fermented in underground tiled tanks tank for 20 days. Ageing : 90% tank vats, 10% of the wine matures in oak barriques. 12 months on the lees.   

Muscadet Cru Mouzillon-Tillieres 2012: The top of the notch wine comes from a 60 year old single vineyard (a small parcel of 0,40 ha) located at La Grande Rivière. Made from 100% Melon de Bourgogne, hand harvesting is followed by a classic vinification with temperature kept at 20°C and 15 days long fermentation. It matures 100% in undergound tiled tanks on the lees during 41 months. No fining, light coarse filtration just before bottling. Limited production: only 3.000 bts per year.