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The Rivière family, present in Saint-Émilion since 1875, operates a vineyard of 25 ha. In the 1950s, Clos des Menuts had only one hectare. Today, it extends over 25 hectares near the ramparts of Saint-Émilion, mostly to the west of the commune. Located in the heart of Saint Emilion, the Clos des Menuts has medieval monolithic cellars with a constant temperature of 12 °. Clos des Menuts is considered today as a unique wine-producing institution. To better understand the basis of this success, we must go back in 1538, date of the first written record attesting to the sale of a barrel of wine by the union of the «Frères Mineurs » (Fray Menuts in Gascon) religious of the Order of St. François d’Assise, also called Cordeliers (Cordes Lies). The name of « Mineurs » brothers was chosen by reference to the "smaller of us" referred to in the Gospels (Mt 25: 40-45). It is thus for more than 470 years that the passion of the Earth and the Wine is married in this unprecedented place. Today, the domain belongs to the RIVIERE family. After buying it in the early 1950s from the BORD family, Jean Edmond ANDRIEU donated it to his son-in-law Pierre RIVIERE in 1956. Many events mark the life of the estate: the expansion of the vineyard surface, the construction of a new wine cellar, the premises of the cultivation in 2001, etc., which allow each vintage of Clos des Menuts to be an example in the community and to combine in the most optimal possible way modernity, authenticity and expression of know-how. In 2007, Philippe RIVIERE called on Stéphane Derenoncourt, a world-renowned oenologist, to vinify the CLOS des MENUTS. A "special" cuvée from the best plots of the estate will then be marketed: L'EXCELLENCE of CLOS des MENUTS whose first vintage was born in 2007. This cuvée has already been noticed in the Anglo-Saxon specialist press and augurs the continuity of the success of this prestigious winery.
