About
Marc-Emmanuel Cyrot and his brother, Olivier, are the fourth generation of the Cyrot family to be involved in wine. Their father died young, leaving his wife with two young boys to look after and no means with which to run the family’s vineyards. In fact, Maman chose an inspired path, renting the land out, so that it would still be worked and cared for during the boys’ formative years. Olivier, having studied viticulture, gradually regained the family vineyards, the contractual nature of the lease agreements being rather helpful, allowing him to gain experience as the vineyard parcels returned piecemeal to the Domaine, now named Domaine Cyrot-Buthiau.
With a custom built, highly functional, bunker-like cellar, created by their father, Olivier was able to concentrate on their vineyards, striving to understand the varied terroirs they had inherited. With Marc-Emmanuel’s help, Olivier is essentially self-taught, learning that which he would ordinarily have gleaned at his father’s side. The wines are made very traditionally; harvested by hand, de-stemmed and cold-macerated before fermentation. Oak is determined by the vintage character, generally between 10% and 35%. The intervening years have seen a gradual broadening of their portfolio and additions to their holdings.
