A family story
Château de Jasson is a family estate of 16 hectares. Its owners since 1990, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Defresne, accompanied by their children, have succeeded in elaborating wines with unique characteristics, which have become a reference signature in the world of great wines of Provence.
This artisanal know-how has seduced Pascal Debon, Thibault de Saint Vincent and his son Felix, who have decided to join forces with Victoria Defresne, who took over the reins in September 2021.
Pascal Debon, who has successfully developed numerous vineyards in France, Gascony and Provence, as well as in Portugal in the Douro Valley, has been proudly running a jewel of the Côtes de Provence appellation, Mas des Borrels, for years. For its part, the Saint Vincent family has been a part of French culinary history for over a century.
Founded in 1888 by Baron Félix de Saint Vincent, Maison Boutary, which has always remained a family business, continues to distribute exceptional food products to the greatest hotels, the best tables in the world and the greatest names in the grocery industry, including a unique caviar with a perfect taste.
Having recently extended the estate, which now covers 40 hectares, and aware of the immense responsibility that now falls to them, Pascal Debon, Victoria Defresne and Félix de Saint Vincent have the ambition to make their wines known beyond the borders.
The vineyard
The vineyard of Château de Jasson is very old. The Greeks were already cultivating vines here six centuries before Christ. The etymology of Jasson comes from the Middle Ages, the Jas qualified the sheepfold and by extension the place where the shepherds met to leave for their transhumance.
Nestled between the sea and the Maures mountains, the Jasson lands benefit from a Mediterranean climate extremely favorable to viticulture on a schistose and clay-limestone soil.
Planted in AOP Côtes de Provence, the estate produces a variety of grapes: Tibouren, Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Rolle, Semillon, Ugni Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon; this diversity allows us to produce true winegrower’s wines that are typical and rare, in rosé, red and white.
The cultivation is based on the process known as “culture raisonnée”: limited yields through severe pruning and green harvesting in July, hand-picking, ploughing rather than herbicides against weeds, organic and non-chemical fertilizers. In doing so, the estate deliberately chooses quality.
The Harvest
Château de Jasson practices two harvests in the year to optimize the quality of its grapes.
The green harvest in July
This technique consists in thinning out the vine in bunches so that the remaining bunches can benefit from a better maturity (more homogeneous) thanks to photosynthesis. This natural ventilation allows to limit the humidity which is a source of disease. The loss in quantity allows to gain in quality with a better concentration of aromas.
Manual harvesting
The harvest is done entirely by hand in 30kg self-locking crates, which limits the oxidation of the berries. This is reinforced by the fact that all the vines of the estate are located around the cellar.
Awards
This search for quality in our work has brought us the recognition of numerous articles in the specialized press, more than 200 medals in 25 years in the most specialized competitions (Paris, Macon, Vinalies Internationales, Caves Particulieres), several “coups de cœur” in the Guide Hachette and starred wines every year.
HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE
Château de Jasson is an HVE certified estate because the maintenance of our vines is carried out according to a preventive treatment plan:
• Ploughing of the soil with burying of weeds which will give a natural compost avoiding the application of herbicides,
• Use of organic and non-chemical fertilizers,
• Contribution of natural nutrients for soil fertility,
• Continuous pollarding of our vines to promote ventilation of our bunches and avoid stagnation of humidity that generates diseases.
• Preservation of biodiversity with our 350 bird nesting boxes (7 species of birds live permanently on the Domaine)
• Rehabilitation of plant hedges for the preservation of endemic species
• Reinsertion of light handicaps for the cultivation tasks
• Maximum use of packaging and raw materials from selective sorting and recycled materials