At first sight this château at the foothills of the Beaujolais, isolated between vines and forest, intrigues. It can be seen from far off but when you pass by the house, it seems to have faded.
Its name is Hestrange, strange... On the garden side which unveils a panorama of vines, the statues of sphinxes question the horizon. You feel even more intrigued when the wine grower tells the history of the place, and his own.
Laurent Metge Toppin is a real character. Like this château, where he makes excellent atypical wines, he has a unique personality, something enigmatic and fascinating. Finding his origins in the Beaujolais region, the Mâcon area and in the Var, trained oenologist at the ENSA school of Montpellier, he wants to work in the trade: he is told to learn English. He heads for London. He stays there 22 years!
Laurent Metge Toppin
Le Paragard • 69460 Blacé
Tél.: +33 (0) 9 63 63 84 86
“I bought the domain De l'Hestrange in 2000. Marquess Caroline's statue was already there, the sphinxes also. The 18th-century mansion had not been occupied for 2 years and the rest of the domain was in poor condition”. Laurent Metge discovers that one of his great-uncles might have owned the château, that Théodore and Caroline de Romanet de Lestrange, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's great-grandparents, had lived there. As for the sphinxes, they have been brought back from Egypt by one of the owners from Lyon.
The wines from the domain are as much surprising as the history of the place. The Beaujolais as well as the Bourgogne are at the same time atypical, disconcerting and excellent. “Since I purchased the estate, I kept the old Gamay vines and I am replanting Pinot Noir.” The cuvee Bourgogne Gamay Pinot Noir has the fruitiness of the first and the elegance of the second. Like in each of the wines of the domain, you can feel the signature of a passionate wine grower and originality maybe linked to his career experience... He makes two white Bourgogne 100% Chardonnay: one matured in stainless steel vats, the other in acacia wood barrels. A straight, mineral and citrusy side for the first one; roundness and floral notes for the second that we easily imagine ageing. In his wines, the soul of the terroir, the granite and the altitude that provide freshness can be felt. The Crémant Cuvée Elzéar, named after his son, combines a gourmet side and lovely floral and mineral notes. Surprising too: the Beaujolais Villages 2006 that is also available in half-bottles and demonstrates that Gamay marvellously expresses in Beaujolais, and that it is a wine worth ageing when well-made.
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