Pierre Olivier Bonhomme Description

Domaine Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme is the continuation and evolution of the now defunct Puzelat-Bonhomme négociant project. In the 90's, Clos du Tue-Boeuf was faced with many years of tiny crops caused by late frost, mildew, hail or general bad weather. Revenues were tight, and Thierry Puzelat, the younger of the two brothers running the estate, wanted to expand the estate by renting or buying more vineyards. His brother Jean-Marie, in his late forties at the time, did not want to add more vineyard and cellar work to his already heavy schedule. So Thierry started a négociant business, set up a winery in the village of Monthou-sur-Bièvre and sourced excellent vineyards and vine-tenders to buy their grapes.

Thierry being a busy and ambitious man, he soon found himself opening a wine bar in Orléans and a wine import company (you have him him to thank for the scarcity of Mauro Vergano's tasty elixirs!) The négoce project had gotten bigger than he'd anticipated; he needed a partner. He quickly found this in Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme, a young high school drop-out who had helped work a few seasons at Tue-Boeuf. Pierre-O, young and motivated, became a partner in his early 20's. The company was re-named Puzelat-Bonhomme.

In anticipation of Jean-Marie's retirement from Clos du Tue-Boeuf, Thierry knew the day would come where he would have to re-shift his focus back to his family estate. A plan was then hatched to have Pierre-O continue the négociant operation under his own name. The switch officially happened with the 2013 vintage, but Pierre-O has vinified the entirety of the production since 2011.

Rather than start from scratch with new labels and cuvées, Pierre-O has continued making the wines that put Puzelat-Bonhomme on the map: Touraine Sauvignon, La Tesnière Blanc and Rouge, In KO We Trust and of course the infamous and ever-popular Telquel. Over the last few years, Pierre-O has also been able to purchase some vines with which he produces, amongst others an old vine Sauvignon and a Cheverny Rouge.

Wine Notes: Pineau d'Aunis, sometimes called Pineau rouge, is another obscure, ancient varietal that survives in
Touraine, most of the time used in blends with Cabernet franc to produce rosé. Even when vinified
as a red wine, as is the case here, it is very light in color, body and alcohol and is deliciously
refreshing, spicy, lively and aromatic.