I was delighted to welcome into the world a new little star: Little Mia, my fourth grandchild, arrived a little ahead of schedule, just like our 2020 vintage. It promises to be precocious because of the very mild days last January and February. We had a particularly wet winter allowing the groundwater stock to recover and to build up water reserves for the 2020 harvest.

The company continues to grow and we are very happy to welcome two students this year: Elise Ferra in our vineyard EARL L’Ouliveto and Adrien Felix in our family business Maison Rivier. Their youthful input brings new skills and will enable us to achieve new essential milestones.

Elise is in charge of traceability and digitalization, thanks to, amongst others, the new Agréo software. She also helps me to make strategic choices, together with my right-hand man, Didier Bouzige. Adrien is going to bring a new youthful eye and dynamism to help us improve our visibility in the field and on line.

Preserving the environment and the local biodiversity are going to be our focus for 2020. After installing nest boxes in 2019, here are some of the actions we are planning for this year: purchasing a weather station, making more use of grass in the vineyards and buying new equipment for tillage. All these elements will help us maintain a proactive policy for the next 10 to 20 years and partially meet the impact global warming has on viticulture.

Our educational vineyard is celebrating its first birthday and to mark this special date, signs will be added in front of each row describing the type of grape variety.

On the cultural side, we are extending our pop art exhibition open all year around. After Steve Jobs, 2 new VIPs will also be in the spotlight (tbc).

At the dawn of my sixtieth birthday, I am continuing to use my experience, my father’s and my uncles’ precious advice and the new tools at our disposal to constantly adjust our business strategy. For it is by always questioning ourselves and by respecting the land that we will be able to meet the challenges ahead. My turn indeed to pass on to my children this land with such a rich natural life.

As for Maison Rivier, we have launched a special numbered presentation box – signed by four generations – to honour my grandfather Joseph. It is a very limited edition: 37 copies (37 because my father was born in 1937) with 3 vintages: 2015 2016 & 2017. A few boxes are still available…

We are also launching 2 new products: the ‘Madeleine Blanc’ Jeroboam & the ‘Maely’ Magnum, ideal for special celebrations.

In addition to developing the rental of our indoor and outdoor space, we are also pleased to welcome this year’s artist, Superfunk, famous for writing ‘Lucky Star’. He will be performing at our Sunset #03 party on June 04 from 7:00 pm onwards (limited to 200 people, tickets only available on presales).

Finally a new cuvée, called «Le Papé» will make its debut in April… another tribute to our ancestors and this land where our family still work day after day with pride, passion and love.