Henri Bonneau (born 1938) is 12th generation of a family of wine growers. He made his first vintage in 1956. His domaine covers only 6.5 ha., mainly planted with Grenache that counts for about 90% of the blend added with small amounts of Mourvedre, Counoise and Vaccarèse. He feels Syrah is not suited to Chateauneuf-du-Pape and he also distrusts new clones and does not like vines that are over 50 years old finding 30 to 50 years to be ideal.
Henri Bonneau decides for each vintage which cuvées he will make. Sometimes one or maybe up to four. His decision about cuvées is taken several years after the harvest – just before bottling. The blend of the four cuvées and the treatment in the cellars are not differing. With 13 different plots the largest is situated in La Crau with another situated in Grand Pierre beside Rayas and it’s probably from these vineyards the best cuvées are selected. Bonneau also has 3.5 ha of vines in the Gard which goes to make his similarly styled vin de table “Les Rouliers” which is usually a blend of 2 vintages and which can also contain some de-classified Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
