The quest at Domaine de Triennes is excellence.

But how does one go about achieving excellence? It is a long drawn out process, producing fine wines is the result of hard work and patience but also the result of ideas and principles. The philosophy behind Triennes wines is the same that has guided and brought success to Jacques Seysses in Burgundy.

The simple truth is that to make a good wine you must have good grapes. From this flows that the tending of the vineyard must be at the core of the winemaker's preoccupation. The first action taken by the partners was to radically prune the vines, reducing canes by 50% in length, in keeping with their objective of producing quality not quantity. The old winery was dilapidated and dusty, the equipment run down, and there was no cellar for barrel storage. A modern winery was designed to blend harmoniously with the existing architecture. With state-of-the-art equipment, pneumatic press and a large cellar. Christophe Morin, viticulturist at Domaine Dujac, supervised the transformation of the vineyard. Over a period of years much of the Cinsault vines were grafted over to Viognier, Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah. The pruning system was changed to Cordon de Royat, which discourages excess vigor, except for the Viognier, which is pruned in Guyot. Ground cover is planted between every two rows, further controlling vigor, reducing surface water, and fixing organic matter into the soil. (For more information read the vineyard page.) The aim is to strengthen and refine the style of the wines, wines which combine ripe fruit and warmth with elegance and depth.

The results were slow but steady, as in each successive vintage, the wines gained in intensity and complexity. By 1998, the grafts and the newly planted vines had started to reach maturity, and the entire vineyard to regenerate, which made for a radical improvement of the quality of wines. Behind this success, one must applaud the work of Rémy Laugier who joined the domaine in 1997. Rémy is a fully fledge oenologist trained at the faculté of Montpellier. He had been working for some years at the Domaine de l'Aumérade -a 500 ha estate in the Var- and wanted to work in an estate where he would focus his efforts on quality rather than quantity. He proved immediately a fantastic addition to the Domaine, thanks to his vast experience of the southern grape varietals, and his commitment to ensuring the highest quality of work at every stage of the production.