Jérôme Bretaudeau – Winemaker of the Year (Vigneron de l’Année) 2025
- macynguyen63
- Jul 24
- 3 min read
So, guess who just got crowned Winemaker of the Year 2025 by La Revue du Vin de France? Yep. Jérôme Bretaudeau. First time ever someone from humble little Muscadet takes the title. No château, no fanfare, no fancy PR team, just years of quiet work, biodynamic farming, and wines that speak louder than press releases ever could.
It might look like a small headline, but for those of us who believe in natural wine and honest, terroir-driven bottles — this is big. Like, historic big.
A winemaker who started with… basically nothing
Jérôme didn’t inherit vines or grow up surrounded by barrels. He wasn’t born into some big-name wine family. He learned the craft by working the vineyards in Gétigné, Muscadet. hands in the dirt, ears open, watching how the older guys did it.
In 2001, he bought a few hectares of land. Quietly. No press release, no big dream speech. Just vines, some tools, and the idea that maybe, if he listened closely enough, the land would tell him what kind of wine it wanted to become.
He started farming organically from the beginning. By 2009, it was official. And by 2016, he’d taken the leap into biodynamics.For Jérôme, a vine isn’t something to control. it’s something to understand.Most of the time, he just tries not to get in the way.
More than just Melon de Bourgogne
If you still think Muscadet is all about Melon de Bourgogne — think again. Or better yet, grab a bottle from Jérôme.
Sure, he makes beautiful wines from the local classic. But he didn’t stop there. On his quiet corner of Muscadet, he’s also planting Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Gris, and even Savagnin a grape you'd expect in Jura, not here.
And the way he works always the same philosophy: keep it honest, keep it simple. Amphora if it fits. Old barrels when they feel right. Sometimes concrete. He listens more than he controls. No filtering. No fining. No makeup. Just wine that feels alive, and doesn’t try to be anything but itself.
Wine doesn’t have to be complicated to be deep
It was one of those early summer evenings. Warm air, soft light. We opened a bottle of Macération an orange wine made from Pinot Gris, aged in amphora and old barrels to let the grape speak fully, without filters, noise, or polish.
No background music. No fancy food. Just the quiet pop of the cork, and that amber glow catching the last light of the day as it swirled in the glass.
From the very first sip, the whole table went quiet.Not because it was a loud, flashy wine but because it made us pause. That “hold on… what is that?” kind of pause. Dried orange peel, black tea, a gentle grip like biting into peach skin.And a fine mineral line that runs through it all subtle, steady, guiding the wine without ever pushing.
Jérôme’s wines have their own rhythm. Especially the ones like Macération, fermented naturally, where he just lets the grape do the talking. For me, every sip feels like a quiet conversation about the land, the variety, and the hands that made it. You don’t need to understand everything to feel something.
_Macy Nguyen
Curious cork popper