Supplier Spotlight: TAVA Ceramic Amphora and Maury Barrels

4 days ago

3 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Vignobles Jade, from the Teycheney family

A Bordeaux family estate: Vignobles Jade, from the Teycheney family — specifically their historic Château La Loubière, where their Bordeaux white is produced, and a recent project, Château Fleur de Lisse, where their left bank Merlot–Cabernet Franc blend is made. A family passionate about wine, led by Caroline Teycheney, with a stellar team that includes ex-Pétrus winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet and his son as consultants for resident winemaker Nicolas Géré — who worked for the Northern Rhône's Jean-Louis Chave for many years — the story is rich in wine personalities. But it's also rich in tradition and innovation, where 750L TAVA ceramic amphorae and 225L MAURY MC2 (double, light long toast) barrels are used to craft wines of complexity, brightness, energy, and precision!

Vignobles Jade - Famille Teycheney Emphasis on right bank Saint-Émilion

The Teycheney family are Bordeaux natives who after previous careers in consulting and luxury goods returned to their roots and love for Bordeaux wine. Father and daughter team: Patrick and Caroline Teycheney expanded their family's historical estate in Montusson: Château de la Loubière dating back to 1837 with right bank focused acquisitions of: Château Fleur de Lisse in 2015, Château l'Étampe in 2016 and the Fontfleurie parcel in 2018. All three are Saint-Émilion based sites.

Consulted by Petrus's Berrouet, inspired by Hermitage's Chave

Following the acquisition of all three right bank sites, the Teycheney family got down to business by hiring: Nicolas Géré; longtime apprentice of Hermitage's famous Jean Louis Chave as Estate Director; the Berrouet father/son duo (Jean-Claude and Jean-François) dubbed the "Merlot specialistes" as consulting winemakers; and Dominique Massenot as organic-biodynamic agronomist. You can have the best terroir in the world .... but if its shepherds are not in agreement, releasing its full potential is impossible

Converted to Organic / Biodynamic Farming

All hectares farmed between the 4x estates are done so organically and either already converted to or on the trajectory to biodynamic farming.

The varietal split between the different Estates are the following:

Fleur de Lisse:	6ha Mer / 4ha Cab-Sauv
L'Etampe:	50ha Sauv-Blanc / 1ha Mer / 0.4ha Cab-Franc
Fontfleurie:	13ha Mer/ 7ha Cab-Franc
La Loubière:	26ha Mer / 1.2ha Malbec / 1ha Cab-Franc / 1 Cab-Sauv / 4ha Sauv-Blanc / 1ha Sauv-Gris / 1ha Muscadelle / 1ha Sem

White wine production with TAVA and MAURY

The whites at Vignobles Jade include Le Blanc de L'Etampe and Château la Loubière, both influenced by Géré's time with Rhône white specialist Jean-Louis Chave.

Le Blanc de L'Etampe: This 100% Sauvignon Blanc uses MAURY's MC2 double light long toast. Whole bunch pressing and native yeasts are used, with fermentation beginning in tank before moving to barrel for seven months of aging with light bâtonnage, creating a structured yet balanced wine.

Château la Loubière: A blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris, with Semillon and Muscadelle making up the remainder. The wine combines 20% new MAURY oak with 20% 750L TAVA ceramic amphora, adding texture, roundness and density while supporting aging potential. Its Burgundy bottle shape is an ode to Northern Rhône whites.

Red wine production with TAVA and MAURY

The flagship red for Vignoble Jade is their Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Château Fleur de Lisse. Here, 67% Merlot and 33% Cabernet Franc are fermented with native yeast in stainless steel tanks. The wines are then transferred into a mix of barrels, casks and amphora. The wine only sees 10% new oak via MAURY and their MC2 toast, 20% 750L TAVA and the remainder is aged in neutral barrel or foudre. The Berrouet father and son team, and winemaker Nicolas Géré mixed ceramic, foudre, neutral oak and 10% new oak, but with the very subtle MC2 double light long toast as a way to maintain the freshness and the lovely bright red fruit Merlot has to offer, while still providing body, depth, complexity and tension on the palette. It's a style of Merlot that can be aged, but more importantly it can be enjoyed now!

A tribute to Ceramics - Barthélemy Togue

Caroline Teycheney, who comes from a fashion background where she was a watchmaker for the Kering Group, has a deep appreciation for art. So she invited Cameroun-French artist Barthélemy Togue to Château Fleur de Lisse to create an installation inspired by the use of ceramic amphora. Togue decided to further complement the existing TAVA with 12 hand painted pieces that reflect the essences of the local land and the Atlantic Ocean coastline that touches Bordeaux. The exhibit named "Chroniques du Vivant" was installed in 2023 and to this day Togue's 12 art pieces sit alongside the TAVA 750L's.