New MD for Louis Latour Chablis vineyards

By Mathew Lyons

Published: 22 August, 2019

Paul Espitalié has been appointed managing director of Chablis vineyard Simonnet-Febvre, owned by Maison Louis Latour.

Espitalié was formerly director of operations at La Chablisienne, where he had worked for six years. Prior to that he had worked as a winemaker at Cave de Rabastens outside Toulouse before taking over the management of Maison du Vigneron, part of Les Grands Chais de France, in the Jura. He is a graduate of Toulouse’s Centre d’Œnologie.

Espitalié said: “Always passionate about new challenges, I wish to take part in the development of Maison Simonnet-Febvre whilst respecting the style and vision that characterise it.”

Simonnet-Febvre was founded in 1840 and acquired by Maison Louis Latour in 2003. Its wines range from Petit Chablis to Chablis Grands Crus, and it is the only Chablis winery to produce traditional method Crémant de Bourgogne, made using Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes from its vineyards around Grand Auxerrois.

Espitalié takes over at Simonnet-Febvre from Jean-Philippe Archambaud, who left in April after nearly 15 years in the role.

Welcoming the appointment of Espitalié, Louis-Fabrice Latour, president of Maison Louis Latour, also paid tribute to Archambaud, thanking him for infusing Simonnet-Febvre with renewed dynamism under his leadership and building on the house’s already established reputation for quality.

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