AB Initio

AB INITIO is a simplified joint-stock company (SAS) founded in August 2020. We are three partners: Claire and Fred Niger, and Emmanuel Roblin.

The story began at a professional wine fair near Nantes in October 2015, where I accompanied a friend who was a wine merchant. At the stand of Domaine de l’Ecu, I met Fred. There, I tasted a Melon de Bourgogne aged in amphora, and I was literally struck by that wine—I still remember it vividly. A wine lover since my teenage years, intrigued and drawn to this world, that tasting and that encounter changed the course of my life. Six months later, I completed a six-week internship at the estate, followed by the harvest season.

After this first experience, I undertook a work-study training program, a Certificate in Organic Viticulture (CS Viti Bio), at the wine school in Amboise and at Domaine de l’Ecu. I had the good fortune to meet outstanding instructors, all winegrowers themselves, such as Damien Delecheneau of Domaine La Grange Tiphaine, Vincent Carême, Tanguy Perraud, Philippe Chigard, and others. Moreover, this program was the only one in France to offer teaching in vineyard management and winemaking practices in organic and biodynamic agriculture.

After obtaining my diploma in June 2017, I worked at several estates (all organic and/or biodynamic) in order to observe their specific characteristics—size, equipment, organization, vineyard and commercial practices, and winemaking methods—and to confront the realities of each. The desire to take over a small estate was growing within me.

I always remained in contact with Claire and Fred. We built a relationship of trust, and naturally I joined the 2018 harvest at Domaine de l’Ecu. It was during this time, in the course of a conversation, that Fred told me about Domaine de la Providence in Vallet. I called the winegrowers and met them. Two months later, I moved into a small house attached to the cellar and began the pruning season. There, I discovered consolidated vineyard plots, some vines over a hundred years old, deeply rooted in granite and schist subsoils, a variety of white grapes (Folle Blanche, Melon de Bourgogne, Chardonnay) and red grapes (Gamay, Cabernet Franc), gentle vineyard practices (light tilling, mowing), and natural grass cover.

In June 2019, I returned to work at Domaine de l’Ecu. I was still living at La Providence and asked the growers if I could harvest the Gamay parcel and buy the grapes from them. Fred and Claire offered to handle the administrative formalities and agreed to lend me an amphora. That was the beginning of the adventure. I harvested the grapes with a friend in small crates and brought them back to l’Ecu. Eighteen months later, my dream became reality: my first amphora-aged wine was bottled. It would be called Kaïros.

I felt at home at l’Ecu, where I continued learning alongside Fred and the team. I wanted to keep making wine, but I had not yet found the right place or estate to settle. The growers at Domaine de la Providence no longer wished to sell their production in bottles, so I proposed buying grapes from certain parcels. Claire, Fred, and I, gathered around a good bottle, decided to create AB INITIO as a partnership in August 2020. 

Everyone’s role is clearly defined.

Fred provides part of the winery building and the equipment that we rent.

Claire is responsible for the administrative side and order management.

I am in charge of selecting the vineyards, harvesting the grapes, creating and making the wines, and marketing them. 

All AB INITIO cuvées would be vinified at l’Ecu (for practical reasons, the company is based there, although everything is clearly separated and fully accredited with the relevant authorities: customs, certification, accounting, logistics, etc.).

I selected the estate, the terroirs, and the grape varieties in order to craft the first wines of the range. For the cuvées Presto, Philla, and Kaïros, I work alongside the growers of Domaine de la Providence. Since 2021, I have personally applied biodynamic preparations by backpack sprayer and oversee the harvest with a team once the grapes have reached maturity. For certain vintages and cuvées, I also harvest and vinify grapes from Domaine de l’Ecu.

AB INITIO is not simple négociant trading. I remain close to the growers and the vines, I bring intention to the work, and I provide the impulse.

AB INITIO — nihil fit sine causa

Nothing happens without a cause.

Wines of terroir, authentic and alive.