Creation of the family company by François Descombe in Rhone, at the feet of Brouilly Mont, in Saint Etienne des Oullières, in front of the town hall. Very convenient, as he was the village mayor.
With Florent Descombe (2nd generation), the distribution of our wines made in barrels to cafes, hotels and restaurants in the Beaujolais region of course, but also in Lyon and in Paris. Besides, it's a Citroen truck type H which deliver. Today, we give it a spacial place with a range "Tube Attitude".
With the arrival of the television, behaviours changed: consumption occurs now at home. François Descombe (3rd generation) develops our own distribution network - direct to consumer.
François Descombe acquires estates in Tarn region, Gaillac AOP.
It’s the beginning of our export activity, with the creation of importing companies in Asia under the leadership of Florent Descombe (4th generation).
Marine Descombe (5th generation) takes over the family estate. It’s the return to the roots, with the acquisition of three domains:
Reconciling viticulture and biodiversity, that is the ambition of the Descombe family, which has started an ambitious agroforestry program.
Thanks to this project, more than 15,000 trees will be planted. That will protect the vines from wind and frost, but also develop biodiversity by providing habitats for wildlife preservation, such as insects, birds, bats or small predators. At the same time, cover crops are sown. These veritable green alleys between the vines are great nutritional allies for the soil and precious ramparts against climate hazards.
An approach that requires investments and sacrifices:
With the restructuring of our vineyard, we are going to loose 15% of our exploitable area. But what we are playing for is the sustainability of our land and our products. We must give back to the living things the keys to self-regulate and self-nourish in order to find a natural balance, virtuous for the ecosystem. It is no more and no less, to return to the peasant common sense that we have lost.
