PHILIPPE
GOUSSELAND

General manager and 3rd generation winemaker

The living memory

Agriculture has been flowing through the veins of the Gousselands for many generations. Dominique almost always knew that he would be a farmer, like his father and grandfather before him. He became aware of this at the age of 12. In high school, his certainty was unshakable and he expressed it firmly in front of his teachers: he would take over the family farm. It must be said that he had been entirely immersed in its activities since he was a kid.

His ancestors composed between polyculture, animal husbandry and vineyards. When his father married Cécile Guérin, the eldest daughter of Robert Guérin, he settled on the Puy Gaudin estate. No one knows yet, but the eponymous site will host, in a few years, the SICA of the same name. Dominique's father initially produces mainly Cognac. When Daniel Guérin, his brother-in-law, calls his family to the rescue to cope with the demands for Pineau, Puy Gaudin then turns to this product.

Since the first farm bought by Robert Guérin, the search for quality has always guided the work of the family members. "To make a good Pineau, you need the grape varieties, but also the land". Aware of the value of his terroir, but also of its limits, Dominique has taken care, according to the opportunities, to enrich and complete his vineyard. This concerns the plots that have come to diversify the types of soil at his disposal, but also his choices of grape variety and vineyard management.

"To make a good Pineau, you need 'encépagement' (planting of grape varieties), but also the land"

Driven by the concern for the transmission of this profession-passion

The plurality of tasks that fall to the Pineau producer contributes to Dominique's pride in exercising this profession-passion. Where some stop at the production of Cognac eau-de-vie, designing Pineaux is, for Dominique, a real choice. He feels a deep sense of freedom and fulfillment. If agriculture, and more particularly viticulture, was obvious to him, belonging to a Family that is involved up to the marketing of its Pineaux proves to be just as essential and visceral. The family DNA is not only located in the land, it spreads even into the bottles that the family has been distributing for several decades now.

At about ten years old, he was already the appointed keeper of the bottles of the precious beverage that the grandfather still delivered in person, in 4L, to the bars and restaurants of Saint-Palais. He loaded the car with bottles, took his grandson on board as a passenger. Dominique was entrusted with the supervision of the loading, while the grandfather, loaded with one or two boxes, disappeared for a few moments in the cellars of the establishments visited. He kept amused scares: for some individuals, baited by the nature of the cargo, a 10-12-year-old child constitutes an easily traversable bulwark. Fortunately, his grandfather was never far away!

Transmission and sharing - the keys to success

Two years after his retirement, Dominique observes with interest the choices made by Benoît and François, his two sons, who are about to take over. Driven by the concern for transmission that animates and characterizes the Guérin Family, he would like to succeed in transmitting this instinct, this knowledge of its exploitation and its qualities, of which he was the relay after his grandfather and his father. Technical and technological progress is a help, an axis of progress that Dominique does not deny in any way. But he is fully aware that nothing will be able to compensate for what the operator, immersed in his profession, learns and knows in the form of immaterial experiences.

The family holds the secret that preserves unity despite the storms.

At the dawn of his twenties

He remembers with emotion the wise advice he received from his grandfather. Dominique was about to replant his first vines. Driven by a premonitory impulse, he questioned his grandfather about the grape variety to be planted. "A Colombard," he was answered. "Your father will see a white Ugni, but I tell you: it must be a Colombard". Indeed, Dominique's father was leaning towards a white Ugni, but he agreed to follow his son's intuition (who, strategically, was careful not to specify that it came from the grandfather...). Time proved the grandfather right, to Dominique's great satisfaction.

These memories are precious

They anchor the family transmission in the soil of wisdom acquired at the cost of experiences. The family holds the secret that preserves unity despite the storms. While the transition from the third to the fourth generation has begun, the spread of generations constitutes an asset favoring the mixing and mixing of ideas. Its corollary lies in the challenge of listening and taking into account everyone within the group. This integration of individuals at the heart of the collective allows the Guérin Family to better cope with the vagaries of the sector and to continue to innovate.

ALCOHOL ABUSE IS DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH, CONSUME IN MODERATION.

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PHILIPPE GOUSSELAND

General manager and 3rd generation winemaker

The living memory

"To make a good Pineau, you need 'encépagement' (planting of grape varieties), but also the land"

Driven by the concern for the transmission of this profession-passion

Transmission and sharing - the keys to success

The family holds the secret that preserves unity despite the storms.

At the dawn of his twenties

These memories are precious

ALCOHOL ABUSE IS DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH, CONSUME IN MODERATION.

PHILIPPE
GOUSSELAND