The Berthier family has been living in the Centre-Loire region for several generations. In the early 1980’s Jean Marie created Domaine des Clairneaux in the Sancerre appellation.

The domaine was expanded in 1998 with the acquisition of Domaine de Montbenoit in the Coteaux du Giennois. After travelling the world, today’s generation has now returned to the family’s terroirs.

I came across The Berthier family about 15 years ago, when we had our shop in the lovely romantic Latin Quarter of Paris. Like many of our suppliers, they would drive up every once in a while with a van load, with the aim of selling everything in the back before heading home. I like the approach and style…simple, common sense techniques, respecting the terroir, whilst producing wines that had a more rounded middle palate.

The vineyard is managed in a sustainable way without herbicides, pesticides. At the heart of this culture is the cultivation of the soil, "as far as vinification is concerned, we do as little as possible because 80% of the work is done in the vines. All the stages of vinification are carried out with great care to keep our wines with low sulphur contents, to help us we use the CO2 naturally present in the wine, which protects it from oxidation."

Clément, who has worked as a cellar master in the USA, is now responsible for vinification and sales at the domaine. Florian, building on his experience gained in Burgundy and New Zealand, is now in charge of the work in the vineyards. Since 2015, they have been developing their activity in the North of the Coteaux du Giennois appellation, in the village of Beaulieu sur Loire. Today they work in partnership with talented wine growers in order to develop their know-how in appellations new to them in the Centre-Loire such as Pouilly-Fumé and Menetou-Salon.