Although he still has a connection in Saumur, notably through the Domaine des Ellettes in Varrains, a family business, Sébastien Fricker now breathes the good Norman air. Established since July 2021 in Marolles (Calvados), not far from Lisieux, the 35-year-old winemaker founded the Domaine des Deserts there with his partner and aims to develop the wine business in the land of “calva”.
Why did you decide to settle in Normandy, a region better known for its cider than for its wine estates?
Sébastien Fricker: “When I sold my companies (VinoValley) in July 2020, I had no intention of repurchasing anything in the sector. In Saumur, I felt like I had covered the issue. I had already had the idea beforehand of setting up a vineyard in Normandy. I absolutely wanted to return to the vineyard without taking over a wine estate, it was the opportunity to start from scratch, in a new region with both technical and commercial potential. And then my partner (Claire De Meyer, co-manager of Domaine des Déserts, Editor's note) is from Normandy, it's because of her that I find myself here (laughing). »
It took you a year to buy the property and land that would become the Domaine des Déserts…
“I mainly surveyed the Pays d'Auge and Calvados, that's where I wanted to settle. There are beautiful lands there and it remains close to the tourist attraction of the coast with Deauville, Trouville-sur-Mer, Honfleur… I visited around fifty properties. The idea was to find the right soil, the right terroir to plant vines. THE…
