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The story of the Descombe family as a wine producer began over a hundred years ago in 1905, when François Descombe was the mayor of the village of Saint Etienne des Oullières near Mont Brouilly.
Today, the winery is run by the 5th generation family, led by Marine, Franciose & Kevin. The vineyards have been expanded under their care, and today the family has production not only in Beaujolais, but also in Chablis and Northern Rhône.
The Descombe family is the third family to own the Château, acquiring the estate in 1958. Since acquiring the estate, the fifth generation of the Descombe family has sought to restore this grand Beaujolais estate to its former glory.
Initially consisting of vines in Beaujolais Villages, has been extended to other parcels further north in the Beaujolais crus, with Brouilly, Morgon, Fleurie and Juliénas, but also further south in the Pierres Dorées region with Beaujolais Blanc.
Now, thanks to its numerous national and international awards, Château de Pougelon is becoming the benchmark for wines produced by the Descombe family throughout the Beaujolais region.
Their flagship wines are Brouilly because the Château's vines are the northernmost in Beaujolais Villages, as well as Morgon because the history of the Descombe family is intimately linked to Morgon "Les Charmes"
Established in the 1950s as Domaine Patrice, the Patrice family began vinifying their own wines in the 2000s. In 2017, the Descombe family took over and renamed it Domaine Passy le Clou, managing the twenty-one plots scattered around the village of Beine in the Petit Chablis, Chablis and Chablis 1er Cru Beauroy appellations
Conversion to organic farming, agroecology, planting of trees and hedges, soil regeneration, plot-by-plot winemaking by cadastral lieu-dit and non-interventionist. The environmental milestones are in place.
Conversion to organic farming, agroecology, planting of trees and hedges, soil regeneration, plot-by-plot winemaking by cadastral lieu-dit and non-interventionist. The environmental milestones are in place.
In addition to viticulture, each farm also takes care of nurturing the biodiversity of the environment by, for example, caring for forests. The family's plans are to plant up to 15,000 trees around their vineyards and partly in their place, because the trees protect the vineyards from both wind and frost, but also create a favorable habitat for insects, birds, bats and other small predators.
Minimal intervention winemaking involves reducing human intervention and the use of oenological products in the process of transforming grapes into wine. This philosophy aims to produce wines that express the terroir and the intrinsic characteristics of the grape variety.
