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.

Some points about 2018 harvest

This year we had a just enough winter, with little snow and some frosts at night, a natural panacea for the vines. Spring was very rainy, in a few weeks we reached almost two third of the average annual precipitation: we worked the soil in order to let the water in and we had to fight against mildew until the end of June, forced to make more treatments than usual but always far below the limits imposed by the organic rules.

In order to reduce the sugars in the grapes and to have a better ventilation between the vines, we started taking off the leaves on the northern side at the middle of June. For the same reason we waited until early July before topping the branches, to prevent an excessive reboot of the femminelle.

After the veraison we frequently thinned the grapes to restore the balance of the plants and to have more concentration in the fruits, for a yield of 45 quintals per hectare.

The harvest started on September 12 with Merlot and Cabernet Franc, then Sangiovese on September 17, 18, 21, ending with Cabernet Sauvignon on the 26th. The weather was extremely clear and sunny, leading to a slow maturation without a substantial gain of sugars that allowed us to choose the right time to crop.

With all the wines under 15 alcohol degrees, the natural fermentations were gently carried on through soft remontages et délestages. Elegance and finesse are common characteristics of the vintage, that will be transferred in the barriques approximately in January.

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.

Mutato di Cupano

We're pleased to introduce our vin fortifié: Mutato.

Its name comes from the word mutage, the process of blocking the fermentation of the must in the cellar with an addition of alcohol.

Mutato is a very unique wine made of sun-dried Merlot 2011 and our Grappa di Brunello 2001, the only we've ever produced, which goes well with cheese and desserts.

Here's what 2007 Best Sommelier of the World Andreas Larsson told about it:

«Medium deep tawny colour. Intense nose, not very classic style blending plum juice, dried fruit, leather and tobacco with some nuttiness. The palate has good bite with a slight tannic feel to it adding freshness, sweet dried fruit but also tobacco and crushed nuts, rather long and spicy finish. Interesting style».

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.

Cupano Brunello di Montalcino 2011 at Cité du Vin, Bordeaux

Our Brunello di Montalcino 2011 has been selected for the Cité du Vin - the first theme park in the world consecrated to wine, opening today in Bordeaux in presence of French President François Hollande - by a tasting committee led by Michel Rolland and 2007 Best Sommelier of the World Andreas Larsson.

Here you will find the video that will be available to all the visitors, where Larsson describes our wine: https://youtu.be/e4kTfboM3vA

    This is the 2011 from Cupano, which is really one of the high-end producers of Brunello di Montalcino. This 2011 has got some evolution already, displaying a very elegant nose and I call this style of Brunello more, let’s say, Burgundian. I always find texture being very silky and rounded and yet powerful at the same time. The nose here is extraordinary, really fine with floral notes of violet rose, tobacco, almost cigar box with a fine spiciness and sweet but still that sour red cherry I associate with the variety. A really good grip on the palate, plenty of really fine tannins in the background, giving a good lift and a very dense texture. Notes of chocolate praline, cocoa powder, sweet red berries, fine spiciness and very long and intense finish. A wine I think it’s still youthful but perfectly drinkable and it certainly does have the capacity for another 10-15 years in a good cellar. A really fine, powerful, silky and refined Brunello di Montalcino

La Cité du Vin will be, since the beginning, the largest cellar of the world, offering more than 800 wines in its wine shop, restaurant and wine bar. A true revolution that will change the mondovino.

This opening is one of the most awaited events of the year: la Cité du Vin is at the second place of the Places to Go for the New York Times, among the 10 architectural grand openings for the Huffington Post, the 40 destinations to spend the holidays for The Guardian and the 20 vacation destinations for El Pais. 

Ombrone 2010 on Newsweek Polska

Jerzy Mazgaj wrote about our Ombrone 2010 on Newsweek Polska.

Here's the link to the article.

Lionel with our Russian importers at Vinitaly 2016

Cupano: Choices in Life, Farming and Wine in Montalcino / via Uncorked in Italy

Eleanor Shannon of Uncorked in Italy visited our winery a few weeks ago. 

Here's the report.

Visit from students of OIV MSc in wine management

As every year since 2005, it was nice to greet some students from the OIV MSc chez Cupano yesterday. In 18 months, these students travel around 24 countries to improve their knowledge of the wine industry, meeting producers and key figures of the mondovino.

One of them, Peggy's Workshop, realized this lovely drawing of the visit.

Cupano on Vert de Vin - Spring 2016

Cupano appears on the Spring 2016 issue of the magazine Vert de Vin.

Our Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2009 got 18.5 points out of 20, greatest Brunello di Montalcino and Tuscan wine, while Ombrone 2013, with 16.25 points, is the best Sant'Antimo tasted.

 

Here's the interview made by Jonathan Choukroun Chicheportiche for the Vinexpo edition.

Lionel en Bourgogne the days after the Rencontres Henri Jayer

Courtesy of Frederick Ammons.

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.

Brunello di Montalcino 2010 on The Wine Review, Singapore

Ningbo Mei - founder and editor of the most important Chinese wine media, Vinehoo - put our Brunello di Montalcino on the top of the list of his 10 favourite wines tasted in 2015 in an article appeared on his blog and on The Wine Review by Ch'ng Poh Tiong, renowned wine critic and Vice Chairman of Decanter Asia Wine Awards.

The list features some of the greatest wines of the world, such as Château Haut Brion 1989, Château Figeac 2006, Domaine Leroy Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 1955, Cedric Bouchard's Côte de Val Vilaine V12, Dom Perignon OEnoteque 1996.

Merano Wine Festival 2015

Cupano, Rotunde, 174.

Merano Wine Festival 2015 Hall of Fame

Still tasting in the empty fair.

Lionel blending Brunello di Montalcino 2011

 Lionel blending Brunello di Montalcino 2011 in our patio.

Lionel preparing dinner for some friends at Cupano

Rencontres Henri Jayer 2015

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 Marcel and Jean-Michel Deiss, Anselme Selosse, Leonard and Olivier Humbrecht, Stéphane Derenoncourt, Philippe Charlopin, Aubert de Villaine, Anne-Claude Leflaive, Lalou Bize-Leroy, 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. This year's theme is: «Are sapidity and minerality the main markers of territorial wines?».

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. 



  

Cupano on The New York Times - Italy's elegant organic wines

Some years ago Kate Singleton wrote about Italian organic wines on her New York Times' column, giving great prominence to our estate and wines. Here what she said about Cupano:

Lionel Cousin, a Frenchman who makes organic wines of great elegance and depth near Montalcino in Tuscany, goes against the stream. At his Cupano winery (www.cupano.it), fermentation is entrusted to the natural ambient yeasts, which behave admirably.

Cousin, who came to winemaking after a successful career in film photography, has an extraordinary aptitude for listening to the environment. "Either you cling on to what your oenologist tells you, which is based on chemistry, or you observe nature and try to interpret what it's telling you," he says.

Surrounded by several hundred hectares of organic arable farming and woodland, the 35-hectare Cupano estate has three and a half hectares of vineyards densely planted on slopes that embrace both sandy clay soils and stony terrains. New planting is underway, but the estate will remain small.

"I believe that as a society we've become too interventionist," Cousin says. "Constantly having your nascent wines analyzed in laboratories is rather like obsessively measuring blood pressure. The pharmaceutical and chemical industries have vested interests in promoting both. But without all this you can still tell when your vines are suffering, just as you know when you are not feeling well. I don't believe in preemptively taking medicines in either case."

Rencontres Henri Jayer 2014

Come ogni anno, Lionel ha partecipato alle Rencontres Henri Jayer, insieme a Anselme Selosse, Leonard e Olivier Humbrecht, Stéphane Derenoncourt, Philippe Charlopin, la Romanée Conti, etc...