The French wine empire "Maison M. Chapoutier" with its headquarters in the town of Tain-l'Hermitage in the Rhône wine-growing region was founded in 1879 by Polydor Chapoutier as a wine trading house. However, the traditional family had already been involved in winegrowing since 1808. In 1988, the company was taken over by the seventh generation of the family, Michel and Marc Chapoutier. They carried out rigorous changes. For example, the old chestnut barrels were replaced by barriques. The yields were so radically reduced that the production volume was halved. Most of the vineyards were converted to biodynamic viticulture by the mid-1990s.
The perfectionist Michel Chapoutier wants to produce wines that reflect the terroir in a pronounced way. On the northern Rhône, a total of 85 hectares are cultivated in the appellations Châteauneuf-du-Pape with the brands "Barbe-Rac" (pure Grenache Noir) and "La Bernardine", Côte Rôtie with the brand "La Mordorée", Crozes-Hermitage with the brands "Meysonniers" and "Les Varonniers", Grignan-les-Adhémar, Hermitage (35 ha) with the brands "Chante Alouette", "De l'Orée", "L'Ermite" and "Le Pavillon" and Saint-Joseph with the brand "Les Granits". There are further estates in the appellations of Banyuls, Collioure (both Roussillon) and Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence (Provence). Another property is the "Tournon Estate" vineyard in South Australia. The vineyards, which cover around 50 hectares, are also farmed biodynamically. The company's total holdings cover around 300 hectares of vineyards.
