Rencontres Henri Jayer 2019

Since 2004 Lionel has been attending «Les Rencontres Henri Jayer - Vignerons, Gourmets et Terroirs du Monde», which take place every year between late January and February at Château de Gilly-les-Cîteaux, Mecca of Cistercian viticulture, gathering about 50 vignerons devotee to the philosophy of terroir. 

Many prominent wine personalities, such as Aubert de Villaine, Lalou Bize-Leroy, Marcel and Jean-Michel Deiss, Anselme Selosse, Leonard and Olivier Humbrecht, Stéphane Derenoncourt, Philippe Charlopin, Loïc Paquet, Thibault Liger-Belair, Bruno Clavelier, Pascal Agrapart, Jean-Laurent Vacheron attend Les Rencontres. 

These meetings were founded in 1993 by the legendary Burgundian winemaker Henri Jayer and his friend Jacky Rigaux, Professor emeritus at University of Burgundy and renowned connaisseur of the terroir. Their purpose is to carry on the ideas and the legacy of a true Maître du Vin. 

This year's theme is: «La mémoire du vin». 

Here's a souvenir of last year's Rencontres.

M. Rigaux discovered Cupano back in 2004, when he talked about our Rosso di Montalcino 2002 on Elitewine:

Ornella Tondini, from Italy, and Frenchman Lionel Cousin purchased the 86.5-acre Cupano estate (35 ha) in 1996. The new owners felt that the east-facing hills, on which there had been no vine since philloxera hit the Montalcino region in the 19th century, held a promising potential. The bare land had never been subject to modern agricultural practices, which can often be harsh due to the use of chemicals, so the new proprietors decided to use biological methods from the very beginning. No pesticide, herbicide or fertilizers have ever been used on the Cupano Estate. Tondini and Cousin originally planted 5.45 acres (2.2 ha) of Sangiovese, a 1.23-acre parcel (0.5 ha) of Cabernet Sauvignon and almost 1 acre (0.4ha)of Merlot on the east and west hillsides. The geology of the Cupano vineyard is very diverse and made of rocky, clayey/sandy, and semi-sandy soils. The winery, which was built in 2004 to have as little impact on the environment as possible, could process grapes from up to 17 acres (7 ha) of vineyard and Tondini and Cousin do not plan to increase the size of the Cupano vineyard above that. The owners control the yield, strictly select the grapes and use only berries that have reached full physiological maturity. Refusing to follow modern winemaking practices, they do not use industrial yeasts. The first wines from the Azienda Agricola Cupano are exceptionally pure”.

Rosso di Montalcino 2002

This wine is 100% Sangiovese, with a 15 months élevage in Burgundy barrels (1/2 new, 1/2 one year old). The crimson colour is shiny and limpid. The first nose is elegant and powerful with spice aromas of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and pepper harmoniously intermixed with a delicate oaky note. The aeration reveals black fruit scents of bilberry and blackberry and delicate floral notes. The attack is both consistent and supple with a good acidity, which highlights the minerality of the wine. Despite the young age of the vine, the aromatic persistence is very good. This is the signature of a truly great terroir: great texture, beautiful minerality, great length, and gorgeous balance.

In 2006 Les Rencontres Henri Jayer led to Le Terroir et Le Vigneron, presenting all the wine makers' point of view about terroir, its prominence and richness. Here's what Lionel wrote about this topic.

Rencontres Henri Jayer 2018

Since 2004 Lionel has been attending «Les Rencontres Henri Jayer - Vignerons, Gourmets et Terroirs du Monde», which take place every year between late January and February at Château de Gilly-les-Cîteaux, Mecca of Cistercian viticulture, gathering about 50 vignerons devotee to the philosophy of terroir. 

Many prominent wine personalities, such as Aubert de Villaine, Lalou Bize-Leroy, Marcel and Jean-Michel Deiss, Anselme Selosse, Leonard and Olivier Humbrecht, Stéphane Derenoncourt, Philippe Charlopin, Loïc Paquet, Thibault Liger-Belair, Bruno Clavelier, Pascal Agrapart, Jean-Laurent Vacheron attend Les Rencontres. 

These meetings were founded in 1993 by the legendary Burgundian winemaker Henri Jayer and his friend Jacky Rigaux, Professor emeritus at University of Burgundy and renowned connaisseur of the terroir. Their purpose is to carry on the ideas and the legacy of a true Maître du Vin. 

This year's theme is: «La taille et la greffe au service de la pérennité de la vigne? Quel avenir pour la vigne non greffée?». 

Here's a souvenir of last year's Rencontres.

M. Rigaux discovered Cupano back in 2004, when he talked about our Rosso di Montalcino 2002 on Elitewine:

Ornella Tondini, from Italy, and Frenchman Lionel Cousin purchased the 86.5-acre Cupano estate (35 ha) in 1996. The new owners felt that the east-facing hills, on which there had been no vine since philloxera hit the Montalcino region in the 19th century, held a promising potential. The bare land had never been subject to modern agricultural practices, which can often be harsh due to the use of chemicals, so the new proprietors decided to use biological methods from the very beginning. No pesticide, herbicide or fertilizers have ever been used on the Cupano Estate. Tondini and Cousin originally planted 5.45 acres (2.2 ha) of Sangiovese, a 1.23-acre parcel (0.5 ha) of Cabernet Sauvignon and almost 1 acre (0.4ha)of Merlot on the east and west hillsides. The geology of the Cupano vineyard is very diverse and made of rocky, clayey/sandy, and semi-sandy soils. The winery, which was built in 2004 to have as little impact on the environment as possible, could process grapes from up to 17 acres (7 ha) of vineyard and Tondini and Cousin do not plan to increase the size of the Cupano vineyard above that. The owners control the yield, strictly select the grapes and use only berries that have reached full physiological maturity. Refusing to follow modern winemaking practices, they do not use industrial yeasts. The first wines from the Azienda Agricola Cupano are exceptionally pure”.

Rosso di Montalcino 2002

This wine is 100% Sangiovese, with a 15 months élevage in Burgundy barrels (1/2 new, 1/2 one year old). The crimson colour is shiny and limpid. The first nose is elegant and powerful with spice aromas of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and pepper harmoniously intermixed with a delicate oaky note. The aeration reveals black fruit scents of bilberry and blackberry and delicate floral notes. The attack is both consistent and supple with a good acidity, which highlights the minerality of the wine. Despite the young age of the vine, the aromatic persistence is very good. This is the signature of a truly great terroir: great texture, beautiful minerality, great length, and gorgeous balance.

In 2006 Les Rencontres Henri Jayer led to Le Terroir et Le Vigneron, presenting all the wine makers' point of view about terroir, its prominence and richness. Here's what Lionel wrote about this topic.

Tale of Cupano

Centine, 1995.

Ornella Tondini and Lionel Cousin moved to Montalcino from Paris with their daughter Orsa during the 90s. Ornella was a journalist at L'Autre Journal, while Lionel worked as filmmaker and director of photography. They already had a strong connection with Montalcino, having spent the most of their summer holidays at Frescobaldi's Il Giardinello hosting many contemporary artists, actors, musicians and writers.

They bought Centine from the owners of Castello Banfi. That land - located south-west of Montalcino, close to the medieval town of Camigliano - had been abandoned for more than 40 years. The soil they found was extremely pure, never touched by chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides or any other form of modern agricultural practice.

Thus Ornella and Lionel chose to plant three hectares of vineyard - 1 hectare of Brunello di Montalcino, 1 hectare of Rosso di Montalcino, 0.6 Cabernet Sauvignon and 0.4 Merlot - around their hill in 1997, starting with an organic by definition certified agriculture. Carlo Ferrini selected the land for the vines and the vine-stocks, the growth system and the height of the plants.

Lionel was born in Cognac but educated to wine in Burgundy, where he met Henri Jayer, whose winemaking philosophy was taken as a reference: few hectares, wine made in the vineyard, limited yields, further selection on the sorting table with removal of any unripe or moldy grapes, autochthonous yeasts, cold maceration on the lees, no filtration, no clarification, French barriques.

Cupano first vintage was the 2000. Since the beginning, Lionel intended to produce wines for aging, in a true French style, seeking for evolution, elegance and complexity. He had some advisors - e.g. the beloved Giulio Gambelli and François Bouchet until their death - but for some years now he has been working on his own, defining himself a vigneron.

Centine, 2017

The vineyard is 30 km far from the Mediterranean, taking advantage of temperate climate and sea breezes, dominating the Orcia Valley and the Ombrone flowing under the hill. The terroir, made of sandy clay with large substructure of cobble stones, is quite unique in Montalcino. The bed of the Ombrone, as a matter of fact, used to pass on that land, but then the tectonic shift activated by the Mount Amiata, an ancient volcano left of the land, made the hill come up, so the river went down the valley leaving all the sediments behind.

Part of the Brunello vineyard

Ornella and Lionel planted three more hectares in 2013 to face the growing demand, doubling the production from 2018.

Rencontres Henri Jayer 2017

Since 2004 Lionel has been attending «Les Rencontres Henri Jayer - Vignerons, Gourmets et Terroirs du Monde», which take place every year between late January and February at Château de Gilly-les-Cîteaux, Mecca of Cistercian viticulture, gathering about 30 vignerons devotee to the philosophy of terroir. 

Many prominent wine personalities, such as Aubert de Villaine, Lalou Bize-Leroy, Marcel and Jean-Michel Deiss, Anselme Selosse, Leonard and Olivier Humbrecht, Stéphane Derenoncourt, Philippe Charlopin, attend Les Rencontres. 

These meetings were founded in 1993 by the legendary Burgundian winemaker Henri Jayer and his friend Jacky Rigaux, Professor emeritus at University of Burgundy and renowned connaisseur of the terroir. Their purpose is to carry on the ideas and the legacy of a true Maître du Vin.

This year's theme is: «L'énergie, vecteur majeur du vin de lieu».

M. Rigaux discovered Cupano back in 2004, when he talked about our Rosso di Montalcino 2002 on Elitewine:

Ornella Tondini, from Italy, and Frenchman Lionel Cousin purchased the 86.5-acre Cupano estate (35 ha) in 1996. The new owners felt that the east-facing hills, on which there had been no vine since philloxera hit the Montalcino region in the 19th century, held a promising potential. The bare land had never been subject to modern agricultural practices, which can often be harsh due to the use of chemicals, so the new proprietors decided to use biological methods from the very beginning. No pesticide, herbicide or fertilizers have ever been used on the Cupano Estate. Tondini and Cousin originally planted 5.45 acres (2.2 ha) of Sangiovese, a 1.23-acre parcel (0.5 ha) of Cabernet Sauvignon and almost 1 acre (0.4ha)of Merlot on the east and west hillsides. The geology of the Cupano vineyard is very diverse and made of rocky, clayey/sandy, and semi-sandy soils. The winery, which was built in 2004 to have as little impact on the environment as possible, could process grapes from up to 17 acres (7 ha) of vineyard and Tondini and Cousin do not plan to increase the size of the Cupano vineyard above that. The owners control the yield, strictly select the grapes and use only berries that have reached full physiological maturity. Refusing to follow modern winemaking practices, they do not use industrial yeasts. The first wines from the Azienda Agricola Cupano are exceptionally pure”.

Rosso di Montalcino 2002

This wine is 100% Sangiovese, with a 15 months élevage in Burgundy barrels (1/2 new, 1/2 one year old). The crimson colour is shiny and limpid. The first nose is elegant and powerful with spice aromas of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and pepper harmoniously intermixed with a delicate oaky note. The aeration reveals black fruit scents of bilberry and blackberry and delicate floral notes. The attack is both consistent and supple with a good acidity, which highlights the minerality of the wine. Despite the young age of the vine, the aromatic persistence is very good. This is the signature of a truly great terroir: great texture, beautiful minerality, great length, and gorgeous balance.

In 2006 Les Rencontres Henri Jayer led to Le Terroir et Le Vigneron, presenting all the wine makers' point of view about terroir, its prominence and richness. Here's what Lionel wrote about this topic.

Les Rencontres Henri Jayer by Jacques Perrin

Jacques Perrin wrote an article on «Les Rencontres Henri Jayer» for the Club des Amateurs de Vins Exquis, talking about the wines tasted during those days including our Brunello di Montalcino 2011 and Riserva 2010.

Rencontres Henri Jayer 2016

Since 2004 Lionel has been attending «Les Rencontres Henri Jayer - Vignerons, Gourmets et Terroirs du Monde», which take place every year between late January and early February at Château de Gilly-les-Cîteaux, Mecca of Cistercian viticulture, gathering about 30 vignerons devotee to the philosophy of terroir. 

Many prominent wine personalities, such as Aubert de Villaine, Lalou Bize-Leroy, Marcel and Jean-Michel Deiss, Anselme Selosse, Leonard and Olivier Humbrecht, Stéphane Derenoncourt, Philippe Charlopin, attend Les Rencontres. 

These meetings were founded in 1993 by the legendary Burgundian winemaker Henri Jayer and his friend Jacky Rigaux, Professor emeritus at University of Burgundy and renowned connaisseur of the terroir. Their purpose is to carry on the ideas and the legacy of a true Maître du Vin.

This year's theme is: «Le goût du lieu, guide de l’esprit et de la main du vigneron».

M. Rigaux discovered Cupano back in 2004, when he talked about our Rosso di Montalcino 2002 on Elitewine:


Ornella Tondini, from Italy, and Frenchman Lionel Cousin purchased the 86.5-acre Cupano estate (35 ha) in 1996. The new owners felt that the east-facing hills, on which there had been no vine since philloxera hit the Montalcino region in the 19th century, held a promising potential. The bare land had never been subject to modern agricultural practices, which can often be harsh due to the use of chemicals, so the new proprietors decided to use biological methods from the very beginning. No pesticide, herbicide or fertilizers have ever been used on the Cupano Estate. Tondini and Cousin originally planted 5.45 acres (2.2 ha) of Sangiovese, a 1.23-acre parcel (0.5 ha) of Cabernet Sauvignon and almost 1 acre (0.4ha)of Merlot on the east and west hillsides. The geology of the Cupano vineyard is very diverse and made of rocky, clayey/sandy, and semi-sandy soils. The winery, which was built in 2004 to have as little impact on the environment as possible, could process grapes from up to 17 acres (7 ha) of vineyard and Tondini and Cousin do not plan to increase the size of the Cupano vineyard above that. The owners control the yield, strictly select the grapes and use only berries that have reached full physiological maturity. Refusing to follow modern winemaking practices, they do not use industrial yeasts. The first wines from the Azienda Agricola Cupano are exceptionally pure”.

Rosso di Montalcino 2002

This wine is 100% Sangiovese, with a 15 months élevage in Burgundy barrels (1/2 new, 1/2 one year old). The crimson colour is shiny and limpid. The first nose is elegant and powerful with spice aromas of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and pepper harmoniously intermixed with a delicate oaky note. The aeration reveals black fruit scents of bilberry and blackberry and delicate floral notes. The attack is both consistent and supple with a good acidity, which highlights the minerality of the wine. Despite the young age of the vine, the aromatic persistence is very good. This is the signature of a truly great terroir: great texture, beautiful minerality, great length, and gorgeous balance.


In 2006 Les Rencontres Henri Jayer led to Le Terroir et Le Vigneron, presenting all the wine makers' point of view about terroir, its prominence and richness. Here's what Lionel wrote about this topic.