Evelyne de Pontbriand (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Bazin de Jessey; November 23, 1950 – November 5, 2024) was a French

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

and the proprietor of

Domaine du Closel – Château des Vaults Domaine du Closel – Château des Vaults is a family-run, organic winery and vineyard, located in Savennières in the Loire Valley of France. The small village is situated on the north bank of the river Loire about 11 miles southwest of the cit ...

, a winery in the Savennières appellation of the

Loire Valley The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...

. She managed the estate from 2001, implementing biodynamic viticulture practices and advocating for the

Chenin Blanc Chenin blanc (, ; known also as Pineau de la Loire among #Synonyms, other names) is a white wine grape variety from the Loire Valley (wine), Loire Valley of France (wine), France. Its high acidity (wine), acidity means it can be used to make var ...

grape through initiatives such as the Académie du Chenin and the Chenin Blanc International Congress.

Early life and education

Evelyne Bazin de Jessey was born on November 23, 1950, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. She spent much of her early life in

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

, near the Savennières appellation, where her family owned

. Her parents, Jacques and Michèle Bazin de Jessey, owned the estate but did not intend for her to enter the family business. She completed higher education in

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

and studied

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

at the

École du Louvre The École du Louvre () is a selective institution of higher education and prestigious ''grande école'' located in the Aile de Flore of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology ...

, graduating in 1972. In 1973, she married Gaël de Pontbriand. After their marriage, the couple moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where her husband studied at the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

. During this time, she worked in an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

and taught French. They later lived in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, where she continued teaching, before returning to Paris in 1985.

Career

In 2001, Pontbriand assumed leadership of Domaine du Closel following her mother Michèle Bazin de Jessey’s retirement. At that time, she was working for a nonprofit organization in Paris that assisted long-term unemployed individuals. Pontbriand initiated the transition of the estate’s

vineyards A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

organic farming Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...

in 2006 and completed their conversion to biodynamic practices in 2015. These methods included reducing chemical inputs, using natural

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows low over an area of ground, which protects the topsoil from erosion and drought. In a terrestrial ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as the ...

, and employing ambient yeast during fermentation. In 2008, she was elected president of the Savennières appellation, a position she held for eight years. During her tenure, she worked to unify the 36 growers in the appellation and elevate the global reputation of Savennières wines. In 2017, she co-founded the Académie du Chenin, an organization focused on research and promotion of the

grape. In 2019, she organized the first Chenin Blanc International Congress, which brought together winemakers and researchers to discuss improvements in

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

and the grape’s reputation. Domaine du Closel spans 15 hectares and features diverse terroirs, including

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

, sandstone, and quartz soils. Pontbriand emphasized producing wines that reflected these unique characteristics and adapted production techniques to preserve the wines’ minerality and acidity. She expanded the estate’s offerings to include

cultural tourism Cultural tourism is a type of tourism in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the cultural attractions and products offered by a tourist destination. These attractions and products relate to the ...

, organizing events such as baroque music concerts and literary festivals.

Personal life

Evelyne and Gaël de Pontbriand had four children. She died on November 5, 2024, in Angers, France, due to cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontbriand, Evelyne 1950 births 2024 deaths French winemakers Women winemakers 21st-century French businesswomen Deaths from cancer in France Businesspeople from Paris People from Angers