Growing up with an iconic winegrower as your father has its benefits, especially when your dad is the warm and gregarious Jean-Louis Dutraive. Knowledge can be passed down, but nothing can replace the lessons learned from making one's own mistakes. As Jean-Louis's daughter Ophelié explained it, "On the domaine, we all make decisions together, but we listen to my father a lot because he is the one who has all the experience." She yearned for the chance to make her own decisions, to try new things, and to learn from her trials and errors. 

In the 2019 vintage, Ophélie launched her own project with a rented 0.3 hectare plot of 100-120 year-old vines in the lieu-dit of Les Métérées in the Cru of Moulin-à-Vent. The following year, she planted another 0.2 hectare on well rested soils that had never been planted to vine and had never been treated with chemicals. With her half hectare of organically farmed Moulin-à Vent, Ophélie is able to make her own cuvée from plots that she works on her own. 

In the cellar, carbonic maceration is carried out with indigenous yeasts and only 15 mg/L of sulfur is added.  The wine is aged in a combination of demi-muids and neutral barrels for seven months and sees no fining or filtration. Ophélie's inaugural cuvée was vibrant and nervy with the meatiness of a classic Moulin-à-Vent and the thirst-quenching fruit we have come to expect from any label bearing the Dutraive name. We can't wait for what's to come!