A 5th Generation Wine Maker with Wine in his Veins

By Laura Rancie. 

 

Melbourne-based Alexandre Rougeot is a fifth-generation winemaker and owner of Domaine Rougeot in Meursault, located in the heart of the Burgundy wine region of France. As a celebrated Sommelier, he has dedicated his life to sharing his knowledge and love of wine as you would expect of someone who grew up on the rarefied soil of the Côte D’Or in Burgundy – wine is in his veins.

 

Through Clos Cachet, Alex could pursue his passion and share the world’s most admired terroir with Australia. In French, 'terroir' is the specific combination of location, vineyard, climate and people that create a wine. Different terroirs produce different wines - examples of famous terroirs include Meursault, Saint-Joseph and Pouilly-Fumé.

With Clos Cachet, he had the privilege of cultivating an enviable network of France’s finest winemakers. From the limestone soils of Burgundy, to the majesty of Champagne, the rugged mountainsides of the Rhône, the baked fields of Provence and the exalted vines of the Loire Valley, Clos Cachet’s access to the finest French wines was nonpareil.

 

"With the growing demand and renown for Burgundy wines, there was less and less available to wine enthusiasts each year”," Alex explains.

 

He had seen too many wines sold off to the highest bidder for enormous margins, causing the wine to lose sparkle; he wanted to accentuate the importance of celebrating the wine and not the profit.

Then in 2020, Le Club launched!  As Alex’s connections in France continued to blossom, he saw an opportunity to provide members with the top cuvées of France through an allocation-only subscription.

 

With all his experience of supplying Australia’s top restaurants with France’s finest wines through his established company Clos Cachet, this time Alex, alongside his wife Jess Rougeot, decided to provide an opportunity for a small group of avid Burgundy drinkers to have guaranteed access to 3-6 bottles of wine in their home, from each of Clos Cachet’s top producers every year.

 

The producers featured are those imported by the parent business Clos Cachet Fine Wines, where Alex has gained access to some of the top wines of Burgundy through his genuine connections with each producer. 

To counter the trend he had previously seen where only top bidders could afford the best wines, all Le Club members must guarantee that no wines received will be on sold, with each bottle held in their own cellars and enjoyed in the coming years. 

 

Chateau Belair Menange

Jean-Marc Roulot - a known and loved producer and actor, Jean-Marc Roulot continues his father’s legacy of not only creating incredible wines from across the Côte de Beaune but bringing to life the eaux de vie and liqueurs that Guy Roulot had begun to create. With a selection of fruit from across France, he has a selection of lemon, apricot, pear and raspberry liqueurs and eaux de vie alongside the classic Meursault wines.

Coche-Dury - This label, with Raphael Coche at the helm, is almost unmatched. Not sitting on their fame, the team works long days in the vines throughout the year to maintain a quality that has remained for decades. Not permitting photography within the Domaine walls, it is a closely kept secret as to the exact details of the vinification set-up, adding to the excitement and intrigue of each vintage.

 

Nicolas Faure - an already small Domaine proved even smaller following the 2021 frost that caused immense damage across Burgundy. While most producers had to cut down and reduce their range to a few select cuvées,

 

Nicolas Faure had but a few barrels in total for his complete collection. As a one-man Domaine, Nicolas works from start to finish with his wines to ensure they are a complete image of the Burgundy terroir and every year, it is an honour to receive an allocation from such a small production.

Alvina Pernot - the only female Burgundy producer for 2023, Alvina Pernot is creating incredible wines to rival that of her father's. Taking vines from the family Domaine Paul Pernot, Alvina has opened her own Domaine with her husband and managed to continue the growing and vinification of grapes each vintage in balance with bringing new life into the world.