Maison Stephan
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Few names in the Northern Rhone garner more respect from the top bistros and wine bars in Paris than that of Jean-Michel Stephan, who has vinified over 30 vintages at his family estate in Cote Rotie. After an apprenticeship with Jean-Paul Brun in Beaujolais, JM dedicated his life to emulating the work of Lapierre and Gramenon on his own terroir, developing a unique approach to producing Syrah using techniques like carbonic maceration, single-plot vinification, and minimal use of sulfur dioxide.
Jean-Michel Stephan grew up in a Northern Rhone farming family. Alongside apricots and vegetables, his grandfather planted vines on valley land that, at the time, was deemed so minor it was simply bundled with commercial farmland. He spent his youth learning winemaking in Beaujolais under the renowned Jean-Paul Brun in Charnay. There, he was exposed to the natural winemaking philosophies of Marcel Lapierre and Jules Chauvet—ideas that would become the defining principles of his own style.
In 1986, Jean-Michel began planting vineyards in Cote Rotie, bringing in his first harvest in 1991. For those first few years, he sold his fruit to E. Guigal before finally bottling wine under his own label in 1994. From the very beginning, Jean-Michel farmed organically and vinified without any additives. By applying lesser-known techniques like carbonic maceration to Northern Rhone Syrah, he achieved singular, expressive bottlings that quickly earned a cult following.
Today, the 5-hectare domaine is composed of three main plots in Cote Rotie: Coteaux de Bassenon, Coteaux de Tupin, and a small parcel in the famous Cote Brune. Jean-Michel and his son, Romain, have also planted an additional 5 hectares of Syrah, Roussanne, Viognier, and Marsanne just outside the Cote Rotie appellation boundaries. Romain joined his father in 2017 and is slowly taking over the reins of the winery.
