Domaine des Espérances

From the outset till this day

With a lot of heart and confidence, the Marty family from Switzerland founded a little vineyard in the south of France in 1999. The vineyard in the Languedoc-Roussillon had been the family dream for a long time, and was called “Domaine des Espérances », expressing all their hopes about future.It was a start with many challenges. For the father Balthasar Marty, the trainings of his three daughters were the basis for leaving his job as a computer specialist and taking a new step as the owner of the Domaine des Espérances. The sisters Chantal (25) and Alexandra (22) get trained as winegrowers at Lycée Charlemagne in Carcassonne, while Franziska (24) studied biology and viticulture at the University of Montpellier. The start in France was not easy for the family. There were no building and no machines available. Otherwise, connections to the water- and waste water-net and to electricity and phone were leaking.
The 14 ha of vines (of totally 30 ha land) were degraded and had to be re-cultivated and particially replanted.

The expectations for the new wine were high. The winegrowers and her parents didn’t just want to produce grapes, which are transformed into cheap wine in the local cooperative winery. The goal was to run the vineyard in organic farming and produce natural and pure healthy wines in the own cellar.

In the meantime, the vineyard of the Marty family annually produces about 10000 bottles of wine, mainly reds from Grenache noir, Mourvèdre, Carignan and Syrah, but also Grenache blanc and rosé (Cinsault and Syrah).The wines are mainly sold by direct selling in Switzerland. The ines from Domaine des Espérances are still a secret tip. It the International Expovina Competition 2008 in Zurich the sisters won two times gold with the red wines Alpha 2006 (Carignan, Grenache noir, Mourvèdre), 89/199 points and Syrah 2006, 90/100 points.