Valentin and Marie BRUNEAU

Valentin Bruneau and his wife Marie, from Winery des Frères, have been producing healthy, precise wines in the Chinon appellation since their first vintage (2020).

A word about their history. Having spent their youth in the Chinon region, they both turned to office jobs. But after a few years behind the computer, they were both fed up. A few years apart, they enrolled in a BTS Viti-Œno (vocational training certificate) and gained experience with a number of different winegrowers. Henri finished his training with Patrick Corbineau (near Saumur), whom he calls his mentor. Valentin, for his part, spent time with the Métras (Beaujolais), Philippe Chigard (Tours) and Bernard Baudry (Chinon). Not bad either! After half a dozen years of experience each, it was time to take the plunge. The two brothers came to an agreement and decided to set up their own Winery winery as a family. The aim: to offer healthy, precise wines from the finest terroirs. Regional or local? It doesn't matter, as long as they can find good plots!

The search began in earnest in 2017. The Bruneau brothers made a series of visits and phone calls. They were not idle in their search and did not want to buy by default. After 2 years, they are back home! Indeed, they found an 11-hectare plot at Winery in the region where they grew up, in Beaumont-en-Véron, in the Chinon appellation.

10 hectares of red wine (Cabernet Franc) and 1 hectare of white wine (Chenin) divided into several parcels, on 6 different terroirs. The vines are on average 40/45 years old and are located on hillsides and plateaus. The vast majority of the vines come from massal selection.

Initially, this Winery was the association of two brothers Henri and Valentin (hence the name of Winery) then they separated.

Today, Valentin stays with his wife Marie. Valentin runs the vineyard organically, using only a little sulfur and copper. With a view to keeping the soil alive and aerated, the Bruneau family try to use the tractor only once a year, and prefer to use the quad bike for treatments (when necessary).
The vines are trimmed back very little to preserve the leaves as much as possible, thus promoting photosynthesis and the aromatic complexity of the fruit.

At Winery des Frères, the harvest is of course manual and starts early (during the day), as maturity is essential. The goal is to keep the grapes fresh when they arrive at the winery.
Always with the aim of proposing healthy, precise wines representative of their terroir, the vinification is parcel by parcel, without any input and the fermentations are carried out with indigenous yeasts. The juices are regularly analyzed (by them) to follow the good progress of the fermentations.
Some of the wines are aged in concrete vats and others in barrels of several wines that have never seen sulphur (recovered from 'natural' winemakers) located in a magnificent and spacious troglodyte cellar.

After spending several hours with them, one phrase comes to mind: "hard work always pays off". What they've accomplished in such a short space of time is considerable. Valentin and Marie know what they want and where they're going.

At Petites Caves , we offer you a selection of cuvées. We are quite confident that you will appreciate the work of our team.