Discover the Winery: Domaine Roc de l’Abbaye
‘Roc de l’Abbaye represents the quintessence of the Silex terroir’
- Florian Mollet, Artisan Winemaker
Domaine Roc de l'Abbaye is located in the heart of Saint-Satur, a historic wine-growing town in the Sancerre vineyards. Saint-Satur was the name of the companion of Felicity and Perpetua, of the Saints martyred at Carthage in 203. The commune took the name of Saint-Satur in 846 when the Archbishop of Bourges deposited the relics of Saint-Satur in the village church. In 1034, Countess Mathilde founded the Abbey of Saint-Satur, in place of the old church, to accommodate canons regular of Saint-Augustin. The monks developed the vines and were already cultivating the Clos du Roc!
Today, Saint-Satur is famous for its ancient Abbey and its hills of Silex terroir bordering the Loire. The Domaine du Roc de l'Abbaye, managed by the Mollet family, owns the iconic plot of 'Clos du Roc' at the foot of the Piton de Sancerre. Jean-Paul Mollet, the father of an engineer with a degree from Centrale Paris, son of a winegrower from Boisgibault (wine-growing hamlet of Pouilly Fumé), has always vinified the wines of the small family estate out of passion, even when he was in the 4 corners of the world for Schlumberger. Since 2000, Florian, the son, has returned to the estate. A talented winemaker, he built a modern cellar at the Roc de l'Abbaye and patiently expanded the estate to 17ha. Thanks to his know-how acquired in France and abroad (Australia, South Africa, etc.) and his expertise in the Silex terroir, Florian's wines have become a reference for all epicureans looking for fresh wines, with chiselled minerality and carried by a gourmet aroma.