Open this summer, the winery Vignoble de Rhuys is enough to make more than one winegrower green with envy. The work of an architect, the semi-circular building surrounds an old renovated mill and offers modern and functional technical spaces.
The municipality’s investment is commensurate: 2.5 million euros excluding tax for studies, land acquisition, soil preparation, plantations, construction of the winery and renovation of the mill. In terms of public aid, the municipality can count on 500,000 euros from the Morbihan department and 100,000 euros from the European Union.
In addition, Sarzeau plans to recover nearly a million euros from the rent with a thirty-year vineyard lease exempt from payment for the first seven years. The couple of winegrowers, Marie Devigne and Guillaume Hagnier, recruited following a call for applications in 2019, will have to pay per year, from 2027, a rent of 30,000 euros for the agricultural buildings and 1,000 euros per planted hectare (i.e. 7,500 euros per year). One million euros remains to be borne by the municipality.
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Bubbles soon?
Ten years old, the project was initiated by the former mayor of Sarzeau, David Lappartient, today president of the Morbihan department. It is therefore up to the new councilor Jean-Marc Dupeyrat to assume this investment, far from being trivial for a town of 9,000 inhabitants. “There was a historical coherence in relaunching wine-growing activity in a town which had 400 ha of vines in the 19th century. » And an economic logic: “The vineyard strengthens agricultural activity with its forty farms and its twenty oyster farming sites”.
The aptly named Marie Devigne and Guillaume Hagnier had carte blanche to choose the grape varieties. On five hectares in production, they planted 50% Chardonnay supplemented by Chenin and Cabernet Franc. The choice of chardonnay is not innocent. “It’s ultimately about producing a Champagne method,” says Guillaume Hagnier, a former wine worker in Champagne.
In 2023, for their second harvest, they produced 16,000 bottles of white and rosé, under the Dantelezh brand. Bottles sold for 16 euros at the property. “The elected officials trust us, it’s a good match,” says the couple who have invested 400,000 euros in a press, vat room, tractor and other tillage tools. “Ec’hed mate!” », to your health in Breton.
- On the same subject: to see this Monday, September 30 at 10:55 p.m. on France 3, the documentary “Breton wines, the new conquest of the West” written and directed by Ghislaine Buffard.
