Though Damien Coquelet is the youngest vigneron we work with (he bottled his first vintage-2007-at just 20 years old), his wines have already reached striking levels of maturity and complexity.
Damien is Georges Descombes' step-son, and has worked alongside his step-father since early childhood. Learning everything from Descombes-both in the vines and in their now shared cellar-has instilled the same values in Damien's work ethic: organic viticulture, hand harvesting, native yeasts, zero intervention in the cellar and little if any sulfuring at bottling.
Two major differences distinguish Coquelet's wines from Descombes'. Damien, who cannot yet afford his own vines, currently rents various parcels in Morgon and Chiroubles, all of which are in their third year conversion to organic viticulture (he plans on purchasing vines in the future). Furthermore, he bottles quite early (the 2010's were available in January), unlike Descombes who ages his wines a year before releasing them.
