Joseph Mellot's Sancerre based wine estate has a history spanning 500 years, dating back to 1513 to Pierre-Etienne Mellot, the first in a long line of winemakers. In 1698 one of Joseph’s ancestors César Mellot, became wine advisor to Louis XIV, entrusted with the weighty task of advising the King on his choice of wines. The estate has been passed down from father to son through the generations, but it was in the 1920's that the Mellot wines really started to become noticed when Alphonse Mellot exhibited his wines at the Foire de Paris Trade Fair. He was the first winemaker from Sancerre to do so, and promptly won several medals. Following up on this success he opened a warehouse in the Halle aux Vins de Bercy (wine market) in order to develop sales in the capital. His sons Edmond and Joseph took over as heads of the company in 1946. Through the 1960's the business continued to grow, exporting to Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK. In 1969 the brothers decided to separate, and the vineyard was shared with Edmond continuing under the Alphonse Mellot name, and Joseph taking over the winery and forming his own label under his own name. In 1984 Joseph's son Alexandre succeeded him and expanded the vineyards and modernised production. His wife Catherine Corbeau Mellot joined the business in 1987 becoming head of sales and communication. Since her husbands untimely death in 2005, she has run the estate, now assisted by her two sons, Armand and Adrien, the great great-grandsons of the founder, perpetuating the legacy passed down from their ancestors. The vineyards are farmed with sustainable and organic principles, Mellot were the first vineyard in the Central Loire to obtain ISO 14001 (the international standard for effective environmental management) certification, and also obtained HVE [High Value Environmental] certification in 2019. They are the only family-owned estate to have a presence in all eight of the main appellations of the Central Loire. Their estate vineyards are distributed between Sancerre (white and red), Pouilly-Fumé , Quincy, Reuilly (white, rosé and red), Châteaumeillant (rosé and red), Menetou-Salon, Coteaux du Giennois (red), and Pouilly-sur-Loire (where they make a wine from the Chasselas grape variety). They also make wines with grapes sourced from wine-growing partners. Production is carried out according to the terroir and the wines are made either in their modern winery in Quincy, or their historic 12th century cellar in Sancerre - where the special Mellot cuvées are vinified and aged underground beneath the streets in the heart of the town. Joseph Mellot is recognised as a benchmark for exceptional quality, an ambassador for the wines of the Central Loire, consistent vintage after vintage. Their extensive portfolio of unique wines expresses the richness of each appellation.
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