The Courtois family: Claude, Étienne, Julien
LOIRE
The Loire Valley is a pioneering region of the natural wine movement and, since the early 1990s, Claude Courtois has been a key figure – working both at the forefront and on the margins.
From his first vines in Provence in the 1980s to the creation, in 1992, of his Loire Valley estate, Les Cailloux du Paradis, in Soings-en-Sologne (Loir-et-Cher) which borders Sologne and Touraine, Claude Courtois has established himself as a key figure in the world of natural wine, never wavering from his total and uncompromising commitment as a farmer who respects soil life and biodiversity. But he is also a marginal figure, having had his own fair share of problems with the wine authorities, since he manages his domain (18 hectares, including 6ha of clay-siliceous vineyard) – a farm, really, with animals, fields, orchards, and woods – outside the AOC constraints, cultivating a number of different grape varieties; the traditional grapes of the region (Sauvignon, Menu Pineau, Romorantin, Gamay, Côt, Cabernet Franc), but also more unusual or little-known varieties, such as Gascon (originating in Yonne, like the winemaker)… among others. This, together with his guiding philosophy to eschew all chemical inputs.
During the 2010s, Etienne Courtois, Claude's youngest son, gradually took over the reins of Les Cailloux du Paradis, without changing anything about the philosophy of the estate.
From 1998, Julien Courtois, Claude's eldest son, created his own estate with his partner Heidi Kuka – Le Clos de la Bruyère – in the same village of Soings-en-Sologne. Their 5 hectare vineyard is also clay-siliceous, growing typical Loire grape varieties with the same philosophy of totally natural work.
Unique, often “atypical”, even disconcerting in the absolute sincerity of their production: such are the wines of Courtois family.
