CHÂTEAU DE BEAUCASTEL

STUDIO MUMBAI AND STUDIO MÉDITERRANÉE

- Dana Thomas

For more than a century, Château de Beaucastel, a vineyard in Provence owned by the Perrin family, has produced some of France's finest Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône wines.

During much of that time, the 100-hectare vineyard was run by Jacques Perrin and his wife, Marguerite, following the biodynamic practices of philosopher Rudolf Steiner. They lived on the estate in a traditional stone house that's been in the family for five centuries and in the 1950s, Jacques built a new winery-known as a "chai"-to increase the quantity and quality of the chateau's wine. Later, his sons, Jean-Pierre and François, stepped in and continued the organic and biodynamic farming, long before it was fashionable.

In 2012, Jean-Pierre's son, César, became the chief winemaker and François's son, Charles, took over marketing and sales. In all, nine cousins from the fifth generation are now involved in the business. In 2018, they mounted an architecture competition to renovate and expand the property, awarding the commission to a joint proposal from Studio Mumbai, led by AD100 architect Bijoy Jain, and Studio Méditerranée, founded by Louis-Antoine Grégo.