Chateau
Gayot The Story
Built circa 1589 by a bishop, a gentle stone house, complete
with orchard and stables, Chateau Gayot is situated ten miles
from the quaint, medieval city of Provins. On the fringe of
the Champagne "district," Provins was the most important stop
on the trading routes from the Far East in the 12th and 13th
centuries and home to the Comtes Thibaud de Champagne, who
is said to have brought the rose back from Damascus.
After
a revolution and other political events, a lightning strike
and a few ownership changes, the Gayot family purchased what
was mostly a collection of silex stones and proceeded to rebuild
the house and restore some of the barns and stables. The estate
was still lined with 500 fruit trees-even some varieties of
apples no longer found on any markets. After a massive orchard
management program, fruit production resumed with the ensuing
production of the golden beverage, apple cider, which, once
gone through double fermentation, approached the other golden
beverage (dubbed Earth's second soft drink) produced 50 miles
away: Champagne!
At
nine years young, Alain Gayot witnessed, learned and practiced
the art of making wine, washing barrels, crushing, nursing
and bottling etc. "It was difficile," Alain says but well
worth it when celebration time came to drink the fine bubbly.
About the same time, the Gayot family visited Joe Heitz-and
others-in Napa and had a near-miss with starting wine production
in the U.S. There began Alain's love with America, though,
and he moved from maker of the golden beverages of France
to winemaker in the Golden State. Arriving in California in
1981, he began to develop a taste for New World wines. Already,
his father André's company in France had heralded California
wines at the famous 1972 Paris tasting.
During
the 1991 Napa Valley Wine Auction a spark ignited Alain's
grape winemaking adventure. After meeting a most friendly
individual by the name of Michel Perret with a history of
family winemaking in France, Algeria, Corsica and California,
and tasting the 1985 Cabernet Sauvignon, Alain decided to
work with Perret to bottle a special cuvée of 100 cases of
the 1987 Cabernet. That became the first Chateau Gayot-labeled
wine, reserved for friends and family. Then came more Cabs,
Merlots, Pinots and finally the first commercially available
wine: 105 cases of the "Cuvée
des Voleurs" produced at Le Cuvier with the colorfully
talented polyglot John Munch.
For
the millennium, CG came up with the "Cuvée
des Etoiles" to celebrate the Chateau at Vieux
Champagne, a California sparkling wine produced by Laetitia
Winery in Arroyo Grande. The latest creation is an esoteric
blend in association with Stephane Asseo of l' Aventure Winery.
CG brings you a surprising first-class assemblage and a most
attractive price for 250 cases of the "Cuvée
des Blagueurs."
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