The Armenier family is one of the oldest in all of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Their ancestors date back to 1344. It is clear that the Armani family – the name was changed to Armenier later on – already belonged to the original inhabitants when the city was founded in the 10th century. The founders of the winery derived its name – which was not officially introduced until 1989 – from the cadester entry of the same name for their grandfather’s wine cellar in the center of the city.
The first bottling of red wine took place in 1978, and of white wine in 1982. Since 1995, the two sisters Sophie Estevenin and Catherine Armenier have been directing the Domaine de Marcoux. They took over the winery from their brother Philippe, who left Europe without much ado and decided to found a biodynamic consulting firm for the winemakers in California’s Napa Valley. He was one of the first vintners in Châteauneuf-du-Pape to work with biological and biodynamical agriculture. For this reason, he was given an ECOCERT certificate as early as 1991.
Today, Sophie is responsible for wine production and commercial business, while Catherine can usually be found in the vineyards. The two sisters made their first wine from the ’96 vintage. The weather vane ornamented with astronomic symbols on the roof of the building is a typical sign for the support of biodynamic products.