For Pierre Perrin, one of the fifth-generation descendants running Famille Perrin, being a winemaker is, above all, being a farmer and having absolute respect for the soil, imbued with his grandfather’s conviction that organic viticulture is the best way to express the terroir.
“We work the richness of our soils to get the best in our wines for the pleasure of our customers,” he says. Having devoted great care to every step in the vineyards and winery, Famille Perrin works with trusted international distributors to ensure the integrity of every bottle from provenance to pour.
The Perrin family has built a veritable wine empire around Chateau de Beaucastel, renowned for its Chateauneuf du Pape wines, and is part of the Primum Familiae Vini, an international association of the world’s finest wine-producing families.
The Perrin family has built a veritable wine empire around Chateau de Beaucastel, renowned for its Chateauneuf du Pape wines, and is part of the Primum Familiae Vini, an international association of the world’s finest wine-producing families.
In the recent decades, the Perrins have built Le Vieille Ferme into a highly successful brand supplying significant volumes of well-priced wines from the Luberon and Ventoux regions in Provence, and branched out to California to establish Tablas Creek in Paso Robles. In 2013, Famille Perrin made headlines for creating the award-winning Miraval Rose for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Yet, more than four centuries and five generations later, the Perrins are still very much connected to the land on which Chateau de Beaucastel sits: the rugged rolling hills of Vinsobres in southern Rhone with its windy, Mediterranean climate nourishing the vines and olive trees dotting its surrounds.
Yet, more than four centuries and five generations later, the Perrins are still very much connected to the land on which Chateau de Beaucastel sits: the rugged rolling hills of Vinsobres in southern Rhone with its windy, Mediterranean climate nourishing the vines and olive trees dotting its surrounds.
Vinsobres in southern Rhone is home to Chateau de Beaucastel (Pic: Famille Perrin)
In Singapore, the sole agent for Famille Perrin and the brands it owns — Chateau de Beaucastel, Miraval, La Vielle Ferme and Les Animals — is Taste Of Tradition, which is a pioneer in the cold chain logistics that assures that proper temperatures are maintained throughout the journey of the bottle. At Taste of Tradition, Pierre Perrin sits on the panel as its Technical Director, advising on the price-quality ratio of its wines.
Here, Perrin talks about capturing the essence of the land in every bottle and what efforts are made to ensure that the world’s finest wines are delivered in the best conditions possible to the consumer.
Here, Perrin talks about capturing the essence of the land in every bottle and what efforts are made to ensure that the world’s finest wines are delivered in the best conditions possible to the consumer.
Chateau de Beaucastel is renowned for its Chateauneuf du Pape wines (Pic: Famille Perrin)
Famille Perrin is in its fifth generation now, a feat for most family businesses. What do you love most about working in a close-knit family business and, on the flipside, what is the greatest challenge?
Working as a family is about building history and ensuring that it continues over the years. The ancestral knowledge is shared between different generations and each member makes sure to leave a lasting and rich heritage. My father Jean Pierre, his brother Francois and their father Jacques, my grandfather, have built this adventure step by step, always keeping in mind the transmission of reasoned entrepreneurial values. Having all received the same teaching, we all have this common vision while maintaining our independence from each other.
Any human adventure, whether in business or with your family, is an adventure filled with challenges. I think that having different ages and backgrounds can push us into having to take more time to coordinate things but it is also what makes us complementary to each other.
How would you describe the beauty of the land that Chateau de Beaucastel sits on and what is your relationship with it like?
Beaucastel is an exceptional place with a unique terroir. We acquired the property in 1909 from [French nobleman] Pierre de Beaucastel and we still keep the coat of arms on all of our wines. The Chateau de Beaucastel is part of the history of the region and our task is to preserve this heritage for future generations while sharing the richness of its wines to the world.
We have always taken a winemaker and agricultural approach, an approach that we have had since the first generation in the early twentieth century. It is necessary to know how to listen to the earth and to understand its environment. That is learnt with time and with the teaching of the old ones: The breathing of the soil, the use of natural fertilisers or the benefits of the moon.
Working as a family is about building history and ensuring that it continues over the years. The ancestral knowledge is shared between different generations and each member makes sure to leave a lasting and rich heritage. My father Jean Pierre, his brother Francois and their father Jacques, my grandfather, have built this adventure step by step, always keeping in mind the transmission of reasoned entrepreneurial values. Having all received the same teaching, we all have this common vision while maintaining our independence from each other.
Any human adventure, whether in business or with your family, is an adventure filled with challenges. I think that having different ages and backgrounds can push us into having to take more time to coordinate things but it is also what makes us complementary to each other.
How would you describe the beauty of the land that Chateau de Beaucastel sits on and what is your relationship with it like?
Beaucastel is an exceptional place with a unique terroir. We acquired the property in 1909 from [French nobleman] Pierre de Beaucastel and we still keep the coat of arms on all of our wines. The Chateau de Beaucastel is part of the history of the region and our task is to preserve this heritage for future generations while sharing the richness of its wines to the world.
We have always taken a winemaker and agricultural approach, an approach that we have had since the first generation in the early twentieth century. It is necessary to know how to listen to the earth and to understand its environment. That is learnt with time and with the teaching of the old ones: The breathing of the soil, the use of natural fertilisers or the benefits of the moon.
The Perrins are still inextricably connected to the land (Pic: Famille Perrin)
As a wine lover, have you ever been disappointed by a bottle that hasn’t been stored or transported properly?
We often forget it but the wine is alive. Various storage conditions make it automatically evolve. Domestically, we privilege the short circuits (more direct modes of distribution from producer to consumer) and globally, we have had the pleasure of working with some of our international distributors for over 20 years which allows us to vouch for the logistics of our wines.
As a winemaker, how important is it to you to ensure the integrity of your wine from provenance to pour?
We are indeed winemakers but we are, above all, farmers. We work the richness of our soils to get the best in our wines for the pleasure of our customers. Having the ability to transport this aromatic complexity to several continents without altering it is essential for us.
We often forget it but the wine is alive. Various storage conditions make it automatically evolve. Domestically, we privilege the short circuits (more direct modes of distribution from producer to consumer) and globally, we have had the pleasure of working with some of our international distributors for over 20 years which allows us to vouch for the logistics of our wines.
As a winemaker, how important is it to you to ensure the integrity of your wine from provenance to pour?
We are indeed winemakers but we are, above all, farmers. We work the richness of our soils to get the best in our wines for the pleasure of our customers. Having the ability to transport this aromatic complexity to several continents without altering it is essential for us.
Great care goes into the making of fine wine, so how do you assure your wines have been shipped and stored with optimal care?
We like to maintain long and loyal relationships with our partners that ensure the quality of our distribution. In some countries, we even sometimes invest in our partner’s local structures. The mastery of the cold chain, especially for countries where the temperature varies greatly, allows us to have the total certainty that our greatest wines will be transferred in the best conditions from our historic cellar to the hands of wine lovers around the world.
We like to maintain long and loyal relationships with our partners that ensure the quality of our distribution. In some countries, we even sometimes invest in our partner’s local structures. The mastery of the cold chain, especially for countries where the temperature varies greatly, allows us to have the total certainty that our greatest wines will be transferred in the best conditions from our historic cellar to the hands of wine lovers around the world.
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