Yorkshireman Jonathan Hesford and his New Zealander wife Rachel Treloar created Domaine Treloar in 2006. All life-change stories need a catalyst, and theirs happened on September 11 2001. At the time, Jon and Rachel were living 500 metres from the World Trade Centre in New York. They watched both planes hit the twin towers and lost several friends and colleagues in the disaster. They lived like refugees for the following 3 months and Jon lost his job. Nevertheless, he thanked his lucky stars that he didn’t attend the meeting on the 110th floor that day. When the dust had settled (both literally and figuratively) Jon and Rachel decided to re-focus their lives to do something that inspired them. Both were very interested in wine – so they decided to become vignerons. Rachel is from New Zealand and, as Jon had always had a high regard for its wines, they moved there to get a good grounding. Jon took a postgraduate diploma at Lincoln University, where hard work and commitment helped him to top the class. He was then offered a job as a winemaker at Neudorf Vineyards, one of the finest estates in the country, and in two years there he learned hands-on what it takes to make world-class wines. Jon and Rachel chose eventually to come to the Roussillon region of France to run their own estate, since they found New Zealand too remote and land prices too costly to start a vineyard that would not produce any grapes for three years.
They farm approximately 11 hectares of vines, planted in the Aspres hills of the Roussillon, between the Mediterranean and the majestic Mont Canigou. The Aspres are characterised by poor, stony soils lying over a clay and limestone subsoil. This gives the wines a particular elegance and freshness for the region. The vines are densely planted and range in age from 10 to 40+ years. Treloar employ best practices taken from local knowledge, New World techniques, current research and endless striving to make the best wines possible from the local grape varieties and terroir. They also follow a sustainable vineyard management programme, predicting disease pressure before spraying, and are in the process of moving to more organic practices. No chemical fertilizers are used and they mow and cultivate to limit weed growth, erosion and vine vigour and are developing a natural wildlife habitat in the centre of the vineyards. We have imported every single cuvée from Domaine Treloar since the release of their first ever vintage (2006) and they now form an integral - nay, absolutely vital - part of our range. In the few short years since the beginning, the wines of Domaine Treloar have garnered much praise, from both critics and consumers alike, and its place amongst the top echelon of Languedoc and Roussillon growers seems assured.
