Domaine de Veronnet

Corentin Houillon’s first memories of wine go back to 1991, stomping Poulsard as a child at Pierre Overnoy’s with his uncles Aurélien and Emmanuel Houillon. A fairly decent introduction to natural wine.

After studying in Beaune and Montpellier and working with the likes of Stéphane Tissot and Dominique Derain, Corentin eventually went looking for somewhere to call his own.

Twelve sites later, he found it in Chautagne, Savoie.

Today he farms 5 hectares of steep, isolated vineyards surrounded by forest. The sandy, rocky soils contain virtually no clay, so he works hard with compost and organic matter to help them retain water. Some slopes are too steep for a conventional tractor — hence the caterpillar-tracked machine. He even makes his own vineyard treatments and modifies tools when what he needs doesn’t exist.

We finally visited Corentin in Jan 2026, walking some of these parcels before tasting through wines still resting in barrel. He is also, quite possibly, one of the smiliest people we’ve ever met — seemingly permanently grinning, laughing and radiating energy.

Which makes his philosophy on wine rather fitting. Corentin believes wine is a mirror of its grower, and that the energy and intention you bring to the vineyard ultimately finds its way into the bottle.

For someone who can get wonderfully philosophical about all this, he also has a rather practical take on the job:

“Cellar work is about dishwashing.”

Philosophy, intuition, farming, tinkering — and a lot of cleaning. If wine really is a mirror of its grower, Corentin’s make a pretty convincing case: energetic, expressive and full of life. 🍷🌿