Why it matters
The producer
A family migration that began in Italy in 1925 now has a new estate name in Bergerac. Domaine Albert de Conti brings together Albert's grandsons Guillaume and Paul with Yann Lecoindre, who worked together for five years before creating the domaine in 2021. The estate farms 30 hectares in organic production, giving the new name a substantial vineyard base.
The bottles cover several forms of Bergerac wine. La Vigne d'Albert is a red blend with an unusually broad list of regional grapes, Cuvée des Conti is a white with ripe fruit, roundness and liveliness, and Pétillant Naturel is lightly sparkling, low in alcohol and naturally carbonated in bottle. The named bottles sit alongside the confirmed Bergerac appellation range without an assigned hierarchy between them.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Saint-Julien-Innocence-Eulalie lies in the heart of Bergerac, where Domaine Albert de Conti presents wines under Bergerac, Bergerac Rosé, Bergerac Sec and Côtes de Bergerac AOC names. Those labels mark different bottle styles before the cork or crown cap is removed: red, rosé, dry white and the broader Côtes de Bergerac category. The estate's named cuvées add a more personal vocabulary to that regional framework.
The place also keeps the range open to several grape choices. La Vigne d'Albert uses Périgord, Abouriou, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Côt and Fer, while the white and sparkling wines carry their own distinct palate descriptions. Bergerac here is presented through bottle character as much as appellation wording.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Organic farming covers 30 hectares already in production. The estate's most distinctive grape statement appears in La Vigne d'Albert, a red blend of Périgord, also called Mérille, Abouriou, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Côt and Fer. That wide blend gives the wine a deliberately light palate profile, marked by crunch, freshness, suppleness and lightness.
Pétillant Naturel takes a different path in the cellar. The grapes are directly pressed, partly fermented in stainless steel vats, then complete their natural carbonation in bottle, with no added sulfites. The method leaves a lightly sparkling wine with pretty little bubbles, very little alcohol, lively movement and very fresh fruitiness.
Wines to know
The range in view
La Vigne d'Albert is the red of the range. Its blend joins Périgord, Abouriou, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Côt and Fer, and its stated palate is crunchy, fresh, supple and light in weight. It is built for early drinking, with a suggested window of two to four years.
Cuvée des Conti is the white. Its profile centres on aromatic complexity, ripe fruit flavours and a mouth that combines roundness with liveliness. In the 2022 vintage, frost reduced the crop and helped concentrate the ripe fruit, with ripe Sémillon seeming to dominate the taste. Its stated drinking window is three to five years.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with La Vigne d'Albert. It is a red blend of Périgord, Abouriou, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Côt and Fer, made in a style that feels crunchy, fresh, supple and light in weight. The bottle gives the clearest taste of the estate's regional grape palette without asking for long ageing, and its two to four year drinking window keeps the fruit and lightness at the centre. It is the right first bottle when the aim is to understand the estate through its grapes and palate shape.