Mas d'Intras
About
Cousins Denis and Sebastien manage 25 hectares of vines in the rugged and wild Ardèche in the southern Rhone Valley. Their family has been in the region since at least the 16th century, and Denis’ father Alphonse helped create the local wine cooperative in the 1952. Thirty years later, with the goal of passing his life’s work in winemaking on to his children, Alphonse decided to leave the coop and build his own winery. The first vintage of Mas d’Intras was in 1982.
Location Description
Located in the lower Rhone Valley, in Valvignères
Additional Information
- Meeting / Conference Facilities:
- Caves:
- Wedding Facilities:
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- Dog Friendly:
- Winery Tours:
- Wine Tasting:
- Art or Architecture:
- Organic / Biodynamic:
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- Lodging / Bed & Breakfast:
Winemaker
This work is his life, like his parents, Alphonse and Françoise, who created this domain with passion. Denis has attended wine school, in 1986 he moved to the family estate of Mas ITE. Therefore, he has continued to develop marketing in the bottles. He toured France and Northern Europe to deliver our customers. This task is a real passion. He speaks fluent German and is very proficient in both Dutch and English.
SEBASTIEN PRADAL:
Passionate about wine from a young age, Sébastien has always benefited from his vacation and his internship to work in the amidst wine. He left his native village of Valvignères for some time to expand his knowledge and explore the vineyards in Australia and New Zealand. He joined the family business Mas d'Intras in 2005 and looks after the vineyards and cellar.
History
The small family farm of LANDRAU was handed down from generation to generation. Through marriages the name was sometimes lost: hence, on September 16, 1798 Claude became TOURNAYRE who married Melanie LANDRAU and on November 28, 1925 Félix ROBERT married Marthe TOURNAYRE.
Our grandparents Marthe and Félix ROBERT had 7 children. The 7th child is Alphonse, born in 1965, received the winery from his six siblings, the youngest, he married Marguerite Albert PRADAL, the mother of Sebastian.
Alphonse ROBERT and Françoise GAGEY were married on April 14, 1967. Alphonse, who had participated in the creation of the cooperative cellar in the village in 1952, they were was his grapes. In 1982, they faded out of the cooperative to create their own cellar, which they call the "Mas d'Intras". ITE is the name of our village of our 3 families, and means "Enter," (south) of the "Vallis Vinaria", the aptly named it "Valley of the Vines" (Valvignères).
At the time, when Françoise arrived from Paris in 1967 to marry Alphonse, Intras was still a small, poor and isolated hamlet a family farm that barely allowed a family to live.
In 1980, Alphonse and Françoise decide to withdraw from the cooperative cellar and build their own cellar. Alfonso was 51 years old then, and Françoise 49 ... at that time it was a brave and risky bet. Everything had to be created, learned, started from scratch. Aided by thier sons Emmanuel (9 years) and Denis (11 years), thus they began the construction of the original cellar, which are still in the concrete tanks at center of the current winery.
The first trailer grape arrived at the Mas d'Intras (whose name is not yet defined ...) on 10 September 1982. This is Grenache "Trace Negro". Sebastian, who was then 7 years old, was present and would not have missed it for the world, his Mom was helping to harvest. Denis and Emmanuel could not be there, both being in school in Montpellier ...
Denis was barely 18 when he earned his diploma as a winemaker in Beaune (Burgundy) he then joined the family business in 1986. With Emmanuel joining the field alongside Denis in 1990.
Sebastian nephew son of Alphonse and her younger sister Margaret, joined the GAEC in 2005 after similar studies and 5 years of vineyard experience.
Today, it is Denis and Sebastian, who jointly manage the family estate, Emmanuel changed careers in 2010, after 20 years of service.
The Team
Self-taught, Raphael learned his craft in the field. He then undertook a VAE (Validation of Acquired Experience) in 2007 that allowed him to get the BTS Viti-Oeno. He handles the wine section and is second in command the cellar.
Aurélien:
Having been steeped in viticulture since childhood, Aurélien spent half his time at Mas d'Intras. He helped his father in the vineyard and the other half of his time he spent in the neighboring village.
He has four years of learning at the Mas d'Intras and stayed with the team to help with the work in the vineyard and cellar.
Cyril:
Cyril continues his wine studies and chose the alternation to learn the craft. He joined the Mas d'Intras team in September 2015 after 2 years of learning at the estate of his grandparents.
Ida:
Ida welcomes you into the cellar, takes care of the daily processing of the orders and manages deliveries for Denis. It guides tours of the cellar in German, English and Dutch translations made.
Sonia:
Our accountant Sonia manages the administration 2 days per week. The rest of her time is spent in the cellar and she speaks fluent German.
Marie-Julienne:
In the office, Marie-Julienne handles route preparation for Denis and customer service. She integrates the cellar service planning and aides in the vineyards and bottling when the need arises.