Domaine de Bel Air 6 Items

The family have been wine growers since 1635 covering thirteen generations, with land in the heart of the Pouilly Fumé area. The parish archives before then are unclear, as the the vineyard was then very fragmented, divided between many owners, renting or working their own vineyards. The plots were very small as evidenced by the notarial acts. However, by pursuing the Sadon lineal family (maiden name of our grandmother Raymonde), we can identify a Pierre Sadon, "vigneron" in 1635 in the parish of Pouilly, followed by five successive generations of Sadon noted as "vigneron à Pouilly" in parish and municipal archives. In the early 1800, there are two generations of Sadon both "vignerons" and "pontonniers" (that is to say boatmen of the Loire) in the hamlet of Charenton, village of Pouilly. Our great-great grandfather, Louis Sadon, left Charenton to settle as a vineyard owner in le Bouchot in the late nineteenth century where he married Marie Chollet. She inherited some of her parents' various bits of vines, and together they created the current Domaine de Bel Air. Their only son André Sadon nicknamed "Riquette", born in 1900, was a great believer in the new technology of the time, especially in the vineyard work. He made great improvements to the domaine. He trainedt his son in law Lucien Mauroy and daughter Raymonde to be good winemakers. The 40's were of course marked by war and occupation and the 50s were equally difficult for the vineyard, especially in le Bouchot, which had to suffer almost annually frost or hail. It has taken a lot of courage and perseverance to survive and remain faithful to an exciting job which is subject to the vagaries of nature!