Driven by our great love for the Hautes-Alpes and its abrupt valleys, we have led a combat for three generations to bring this high-altitude terroir to the attention of the world.
THE CREATION OF THE DOMAINE
Marcelle and Louis, my grandparents, created the estate in 1954. They chose Théüs, a tiny, perched village that inspired Jean Giono for his book “the Horseman on the Roof”. Vines have grown here for as long as anyone can remember.
SAFEGUARDING TRADITION
My parents Mireille and Marc followed in their footsteps and fought for the preservation of the indigenous grape that was gradually disappearing.
A CONVERSION TO A NEW ADVENTURE
As for me, Laetitia, I was a journalist for a long time before taking up the baton and becoming part of this family history. For me, making wine is also a work of creation, of authorship and expression.
A FAMILY AFFAIR!
Maxime, my younger cousin has joined us on the estate…
He is now part of the winemaking team alongside Marc (my Dad who is always there to share his knowledge with us!) and Laurent, who has been with us for over 20 years!
“Bravo au Domaine Allemand, père et fille, qui ont su mettre en avant le renouveau du cépage Mollard, cépage endémique des Hautes-Alpes, il est possible de faire bien et de proposer de beaux produits dans des régions moins connues instinctivement pour ses vignobles.”
OUR TERROIR, OUR VALUES
My father and I are deeply attached to our mountain terroir that allows us to make authentic wines that truly reflect our values. We seek above all to bring out the expression of this unique terroir and the originality of our heritage grapes in our wines. The protection of the environment is an essential element of our work, enabling us to produce living wines.
For us everything begins with the vine.
We are, little by little, reintroducing horse tractionin our parcels to better preserve the soils. Our grapes are all picked by hand.
The estate has obtained High Environmental Value certification, which is focussed largely on measures to protect biodiversity (diversity of plant species, tree and hedge planting on the estate), strategies to control the use of phytosanitary treatments, and recycling of wastewater.
We also started our transition towards organic viticulture in 2021, to officially obtain this label whose philosophy we had already been applying for many years. When making our wines we limit the use of sulphites and other inputs.
And we have been using eco-responsible materials for our packaging for many years, such as the environmentally friendly ‘Ecova’ range of bottles from Verallia, and ‘Green Line’ closures from Nomacorc.
His concern for the environment led my father to take a very early interest in biodiversity, and to dedicate himself to the preservation of the heritage grape of the Hautes-Alpes; a long-term undertaking without which it would purely and simply have disappeared.
Almost 15 years of studies were necessary, in collaboration with the French Vine and Wine Institute, to conserve and re-establish the production of this native grape between the beginning of the nineties and the middle of the 2000’s.
Today, Mollard has regained its rightful recognition. And the rootstock nursery vineyard, from which all new certified plantations of Mollard originate, belongs to our Domaine.
In 2022 I decided to pursue the adventure and take yet another step forward in our safeguarding efforts.
I wanted to complete the selection made by the Vine and Wine Institute (clonal selection) by adding another method, known as Massal selection.
This consists of preserving the diversity that exists within a single variety, by selecting and conserving a number of individual vines that possess slight differences in their genetic heritage.
I therefore visited a 100-year-old parcel of Mollard – no doubt one of the oldest and finest parcels in the whole of the Hautes Alpes – accompanied by the team from Lilian Berillon’s specialist vine nursery, to identify particularly remarkable examples of this variety in order to study them and preserve their generic heritage.
And when this is done, Mollard will definitively be saved!
To raise awareness and promote Mollard we have joined forces with associations like Wine Mosaic and the Pierre Galet Centre for Alpine Ampelography which bring together winegrowers who are cultivating these rare varieties and striving to preserve vinodiversity.
At the same time more and more wine enthusiasts, eager for new experiences, and in search of authenticity and typicity, support this endeavour. And with good reason, because Mollard, which is particularly well suited to the mountain environment, produces easy-drinking, deliciously light wines of an intense ruby red colour. They have a spicy, lightly peppery nose with toasted notes, and are round and smooth in the mouth with notes of very ripe red fruit. They are also naturally low in alcohol – harvested at full maturity they rarely exceed 12%.
Together, committed winegrowers and enlightened consumers are winning the battle…. for the diversity of aromas and pleasures, against the standardisation and homogenisation of taste!
It’s thanks to you and your loyalty and support that we continue to progress in this great adventure.
We are three generations of winemakers who have dedicated ourselves to shining a light on the terroir of the Hautes Alpes. But you are three generations of clients, sometimes of the same family, who have visited and supported us, who have loved our wines and spread the word.
You are our best ambassadors, and without the ties that have been forged between us over time our Domaine would not be what it is today!
An IGP or Protected Geographical Indication, is a quality certification. It is governed by INAO (French National Institute for Appellations of Origin).
IGP wines come from a defined geographical area and their production is subject to strict specifications and verifications that guarantee their quality.
The winemakers within the IGP Hautes-Alpes all choose to certify their wines each year. Each wine must be approved by a certifying committee before being able to bear the label IGP Hautes-Alpes.
High Environmental Value is a global certification which is significant because it takes into account all of the measures adopted by a producer to protect both the environment and the consumer. It is focussed principally on measures to protect biodiversity, strategies to control the use of phytosanitary treatments, and the recycling of wastewater.
We have been certified HVE since 2020.
For a wine to be certified organic it must be made from grapes grown organically, but also according to specifications that forbid the use of certain chemical products in the cellar.
The respect of this double requirement (in the vines and in the cellar) is verified by a certifying organism.
When an estate passes from conventional to organic, there is a transition or ‘conversion’ period of three years before it can officially call itself organic.
We began converting to organic in 2021, with official certification from the 2024 harvest.
Wine that we call ‘natural’ is traditionally wine that has been made from organic, hand-picked grapes, to which nothing is added in the winemaking.
Currently there is no legal definition of the term ‘natural’, but there does exist a legal definition of a ‘no sulphites’ wine. This must contain no added sulphites and have a total level of SO2 (which is produced naturally during fermentation) below 10mg/Hl.
Our Pompon wine is made with organic, hand-picked grapes, and made using the natural method, with wild yeasts, no added sulphites, no inputs of any sort, and unfiltered.
Depending on the vintage, fermentation naturally produces a certain quantityof sulphites, and the wine can therefore be labelled either “without sulphites”, or “no added sulphites” depending on the level detected by international standards analyses (COFRAC) carried out by an accredited laboratory.
There are many varieties of vines. Each one has its specificities: shape of bunches and leaves, colour of mature berries, aromas, and taste attributes that are specific to each one.
Inra (the French Institute for Agricultural Research) lists just over 2,600 varieties of grape in France, and there are around 10,000 grape varieties on the planet. However, only around thirty of these (the best-known being Chardonnay, Pinot, Cabernet etc…) are used to make practically all of the wines in the world. 99% of the varieties that exist are therefore no longer, or rarely, used.
They are referred to as “unknown”, “forgotten”, “rare”, “modest” or “heritage” grapes. Amongst them figure Persan, Chatus, Portugais Bleu, and Mollard, to name but a few…
Mollard (which means literally “little mound” or “little mountain”) is the emblematic red grape variety of the Hautes-Alpes. It forms an integral part of the history of vine growing in our valleys. And yet, in the 1980s, many winegrowers decided to pull up these vines to replace them with international varieties such as Cabernet or Syrah to appeal to a larger number of consumers. A few plots of Mollard remained in the Hautes-Alpes, but through lack of care their condition deteriorated, and the variety was at risk of extinction.
Marc Allemand, like his father before him, has always grown Mollard. From the beginning of the nineties, conscious of the potential of this grape and anxious to protect the biodiversity of the region, he embarked on a pioneering project to preserve this threatened variety. At the time, few other winemakers credited this champion of Mollard with much chance of success! But in collaboration with the French Vine and Wine Institute, and with the guidance of France Agrimer, Marc Allemand patiently selected the healthiest and most vigorous plants from his vineyards. After 10 years of research, two of these plants were finally chosen as parent vines to be preserved and reproduced to re-establish the production of Mollard.
A rootstock nursery of Mollard was planted in the years 2000, and looked after by Domaine Allemand. It was a long and costly adventure, but Marc Allemand’s work finally bore fruit with Mollard making its entry into the official French catalogue of recognised grape varieties in 2005. A fitting recompense for this winemaker and the institutions that supported him in his venture.
Mollard has regained its rightful recognition and esteem. Today the rootstock nursery vineyard, from which all new certified plantations of Mollard originate, belongs to our Domaine. To raise awareness and promote Mollard we have joined forces with associations like Wine Mosaic and the Pierre Galet Centre for Alpine Ampelography. These groups bring together winegrowers who are fighting for the recognition of rare varieties and striving to save biodiversity. And we are working with the vine nurseryman Lilian Berillon to establish Massal selection to help preserve the genetic diversity of Mollard.
And more and more wine lovers in search of authenticity and character support this endeavour. Together, committed winegrowers and enlightened consumers are winning the battle…. for the diversity of aromas and pleasure, and against the standardisation and homogenisation of taste!
Parent vines are original rootstock plants whose plantation is regulated by France Agrimer. The grafted vines that originate from it are controlled and certified by the French state. The parent rootstock nursery of Mollard that we possess today is unique in France.
Our e-boutique is managed by a third party who takes a commission on all sales. Our online prices quoted are therefore slightly more than the prices you will pay when you buy directly at the Domaine.
You can call us at the Domaine on 04 92 54 40 20 when the cellar is open from Monday to Friday 9.00 to12.00 and 14.00 to 18.00. If necessary we will put you in touch directly with the service that manages our e-boutique.
We would be very happy to see you at the Domaine and offer you a tasting of our wines. You can also find our wines in the principal wine shops of the area: Cave Bertrand in Gap, Cave de la Tonnelle in Embrun, Cave Astier in Briançon…
