A family
story
Family legend has it that my grandparents met at the washhouse at the top of the village of Chignin, and that a few years later my grandfather planted a parcel of Mondeuse as a wedding present. The Cartier family's love affair with vines goes back several generations!
At Domaine François Cartier et Fils, the love of the vine has always been present. Growers of several crops, they specialized in vines in the 60s. Initially cooperators with the Cave de Montmélian, from the 70s onwards they were able to produce their own bottles thanks to the construction of a winery at the entrance to the Chef-Lieu. In the 90s, it was my uncle Michel Cartier, known as "Grand Mich", who continued to write the story until his sudden death in 2009. It wasn't until ten years later that I returned to the family land to found my own estate, Domaine des Albatros.
Love of land
and connection
Like all children, I had many dreams as a child: to become a truck driver, a vulcanologist, a refuge keeper... or a winemaker. By the time I was 40, many of them had come true. Driving a truck for days on end in Antarctica to transport equipment to the Concordia base at 3,200 m altitude. Boarding the Marion Dufresne for an oceanographic expedition to discover an underwater volcano in Mayotte. Work for a summer and winter season as a janitor in a Vanoise refuge.
Mon mantra a toujours été “tout est possible” mais il restait encore un rêve à réaliser, sûrement le plus grand. Parfois il est nécessaire de faire un long voyage pour revenir s'ancrer.
Aussi loin que mes souvenirs remontent, j'ai toujours accompagné mon grand-père dans les vignes ou aidé ma grand-mère à la cave. Même pendant mes études à Grenoble, je trouvais toujours un moment pour débarquer à l'improviste, ma grand-mère me préparait à déjeuner puis j'allais travailler dans les vignes avec mon grand-père l'après-midi. Logiquement, l'idée de reprendre les vignes familiales après 2009 était une évidence.
I waited for the right moment, for the planets to align, before going back to school to deepen my knowledge thanks to the fascinating BPREA Viticulture Oenologie courses at the CFPPA of Beaune. In this context, I was able to affirm my desires and learn from the best through various internships: Domaine Jean-Charles Girard-Madoux and Domaine Pascal et Annick Quenard in Savoie, Domaine Pignier in the Jura, and Domaine Chandon de Briailles in Burgundy.
A (re)conversion like a matter of course, the joy of being outdoors, of being in contact with living things, of watching the seasons go by, of feeling the energy of the earth and, above all, of passing on. Passing on a family history and continuing to plant for future generations.
”
Albatrosses
in Savoie
Chignin people have never seen such birds flying over the vines. And yet, if I decided to give this name to my estate, it's because for me the references were everywhere. The Albatross is of course a reference to my polar missions and my love of the oceans. During my stays in Antarctica, I learned from ornithologists that young albatrosses circumnavigate the globe several times before finally returning to their birthplace. It's a story that echoes my own.
Albatrosses are also a tribute to those who now look down on us from the sky, but whose presence is still felt. Transmission, again and again.
And finally, how can I not think of Baudelaire's poem, L'Albatros, which has so often accompanied me.