Graeme Bott, a New Zealand winemaker and oenologist, and Julie Bott, a Northern Rhône native, met while working in Côte-Rôtie with Stéphane Ogier.
Their adventure began in 2015 when they acquired their first parcel of AOP CONDRIEU, in the commune of Vérin, in the Northern Rhône Valley. Both of them, with the resources at their disposal, cleared the land, then rebuilt the dry stone walls to be able to plant their first vines on this original terroir, extremely rich and complex, of Viognier and Syrah varieties.
Opposite the CÔTE-RÔTIE is the magnificent terroir of SEYSSUEL. Dating back to Roman times, it was one of the most famous vineyards in France before phylloxera. In the 90’s, it was revived by several great Northern Rhône Valley winemakers. Today, this vineyard territory counts 40 hectares planted in Syrah & Viognier.
In 2016, Graeme and Julie acquired the first parcels of micaschistes in Seyssuel, joining the VITIS VIENNA association, which now consists of 18 wine producers. This vineyard is in the process of obtaining a Protected Designation of Origin which will allow it to integrate the family of the Côtes-du-Rhône, then to become a Cru.
Today, the Bott domain counts 6 ha of vineyards distributed on the appellations CONDRIEU, CÔTE-RÔTIE, SAINT-JOSEPH, and in SEYSSUEL IGP Collines Rhodaniennes. At the Bott estate, the work in the vineyard is 100% manual and they aim to control every detail, from the planting to the vinification, privileging the quality of the grapes and the wines to the quantity, in order to obtain wines of precision, reflecting their terroir: parcel-by-parcel vinification with indigenous yeast, few new barrels and a part in whole grape harvest (grape with its stalk) for the reds.
The wines of this estate will continue to amaze thanks to the hard work of Julie and Graeme