BLARD & FILS
this 9 hectares domaine is run by jean-noel and his son thomas blard for 5 generations. surrounded by the mountains, the geographic situation looks like heaven on earth. most of the cuvees are single-varietal and each of them showcases a grape variety on a selected soil. at the peak of the work in the vineyard, 9 people are working on 9 hectares. the cultivation of the vine is managed in the most sustainable way possible. the juices ferment slowly then age on fine lees in vats for up to 11 months. thomas studied in champagne and the domaine is making fantastic cremant inspired by champagne vinification with long aging on lees to reveal the whole potential of this unique terroir.
thomas’s great-grandfather joseph blard was a farmer. he raised cows and grew grains (and grapes of course) but just for the families own consumption.
following the second world war, his grandfather pierre blard specialized in viticulture and decided to expand the farm and but still farm grains and raise some cows. he also made wine like his father, but decided to buy and rent additional plots to expand to around 5 hectares. most of the wine was sold to the traders.
thomas’s father jean noël continued in the same profession and studied at viti in beaune, then taught there for 3 years. when returning home to take over the estate, he made maybe upgrades and modernized the estate. he enlarged and perfected the cultivation and winemaking (mechanization, vat room and temperature control of the vats, diversification of the altesse, pinot noir grape varieties, plantations ...) the wine was still sold to merchants. from the 90s on, he began to do more estate bottlings and specialized towards selling to many french restaurants.
thomas who has now taken over studied at the university of wine in suze la rousse, then polished his skills at the cfppa in avize en champagne. when he returned to the domaine in 2012, all the production was estate bottled. he planted malvoisie and rented some mondeuse vines. since 2014 he’s made a huge push towards organic viticulture, and created a range of crémant de savoie. now 99% of the volumes are sold to professional wine merchants, restaurants and hotels.