Producer Profile
Domaine de la Janasse
In 1967, Aimé Sabon came back from his military service. He took over his father’s vines, who used to take his grapes to the wine cooperative. In 1973, Aimé built his own cellar. Domaine de la Janasse was born and named after the family farm that was in Courthézon, in the locality of “La Janasse”. Aimé was ambitious. He knew he had fabulous soil and he wanted to expand the estate by acquiring new plots. From 15 hectares at the very beginning, La Janasse has now reached more than 90 hectares.
The family’s vineyards are located in La Janasse and contain over 69 plots, with each having different soil types. These soil varieties include sandy limestone, clay-limestone, and soils with river rocks and so on. Many white varietals, Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache are grown here.
The Châteauneuf-du-Pape cooperative grows 13 varietals of grapes. All of these varieties are found in the family farm of La Janasse. Of all the varietals planted here, Grenache is considered to be the most famous because of the subtle flavours it provides to the wines. To keep up with the cooperative’s tradition, the 13 grape varietals were planted on La Crau, considered to be the best of all appellations. Some of the red varietals that were planted on this appellation included Counoise, Vaccarese, Muscardin and Terret Noir. The whites planted here included Clairette Rose, Grenache Gris, Picardan, Bourboulenc and Picpoul Gris.
The grapes go through a dual sorting process to ensure that only the best ones are selected for further processing. All the vinification and maceration processes that follow depend on the quality of the grapes selected during the sorting process. This makes the wines fresh, intense and aromatic.
In 1991, after a technical diploma in viticulture and oenology in Beaune, and another one in marketing in Mâcon, Christophe Sabon –Aimé’s eldest son– came back to La Janasse where he was given the keys to the cellar. From then different cuvees were developed, new markets conquered. In 2001, Isabelle –Aimé’s daughter– graduated as an oenologist from the University of Toulouse, and joined the team.
