The Condrieu Native & the Rebel
Thibaud Capellaro is a first-generation winemaker in Chavanay, Northern Rhône — a Condrieu native with no family ties to wine who left business school to pursue a vision of precise, experimental, terroir-driven wines. In 2018, he founded Slope, a micro-négociant sourcing organic grapes from Ardèche, Saint-Joseph, the Gard, and even Piedmont. Simultaneously, he acquired tiny, overlooked parcels in Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph — east-facing terraces deemed undesirable by the older generation, on some of the steepest slopes in France. Today, from a cellar in Chavanay filled with amphorae, ceramic eggs, old barrels, and concrete tanks, he produces roughly 10,000 bottles a year across three distinct projects: his own estate, the Slope négociant line, and Juicy Squad with friends. The wines are honest, buoyant, and singular — breaking every convention of the appellations he calls home while remaining deeply faithful to their soils. Indigenous yeasts. Whole-cluster fermentations. Minimal to zero sulfur. No fining. No filtration. This is the Northern Rhône as seen by someone who grew up in its shadow and chose to step out of it.
The Business Student & the Bet on Overlooked Stone
The story of Thibaud Capellaro begins in the very place he now challenges — Condrieu, one of the most storied appellations in the Northern Rhône. Born and raised in the region, Thibaud grew up in the shadow of Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph, surrounded by the mythology of Syrah and Viognier. But his family had no ties to winemaking. There was no estate to inherit, no cellar to step into, no generational knowledge passed down over Sunday lunch. What he had was proximity — the daily sight of vertiginous terraces, the smell of granite dust in summer, and a growing conviction that the wines of his homeland could be something other than what the appellation system demanded.
After business school, Thibaud made the leap. He studied winemaking in Beaune, then set about acquiring the practical knowledge that classrooms cannot provide. He worked with André Perret in Condrieu — one of the region's most iconic producers — and with Duclaux and Devay in the Rhône. He also spent time in Australia, broadening his palate and his understanding of what Syrah could be outside the strictures of French tradition. Along the way, he formed a close friendship with Simon Gastrein, another young Rhône vigneron, and the two would eventually work together and inspire each other. These were not mere apprenticeships; they were the forging of a dissenting sensibility — a conviction that the Northern Rhône's future lay not in replication but in reinvention.
In 2018, Thibaud launched his project in earnest. He created Slope, a micro-négociant structure through which he could source organic grapes from small growers across the region — Ardèche, Saint-Joseph, Coteaux du Lyonnais, the Gard, and even Piedmont in Italy (where he once smuggled Dolcetto grapes back across the border). Simultaneously, he began acquiring his own land. He bought two plots from François Bouillot-Salomon in Côte-Rôtie, already farmed organically, and secured other unplanted parcels from an elderly owner. The plots were small, fragmented, and — crucially — not south-facing. The older generation had overlooked them, deeming east-facing slopes less desirable. But Thibaud saw what climate change would soon prove: with rising temperatures, these cooler exposures were not a liability but an asset. It was a bet on the future, placed with the audacity of someone who had nothing to lose but his own conviction.
His humble beginnings started in a rented basement in Condrieu, then moved to a shared winery in the same village. In 2022, he finally relocated to a larger cellar in Chavanay, a neighbouring commune, where he had more room to experiment and grow. The cellar is now a laboratory of vessels: old oak barrels of nearly every size, stainless steel tanks, fiberglass, terracotta, ceramic eggs, sandstone amphorae, and concrete. It is not a polished facility; it is a working space for someone who tests, experiments, and refuses to settle on a single method. The result is a portfolio of wines that are as diverse as the containers that shape them — each one a different answer to the same question: what can the Northern Rhône become when you stop trying to copy its past?
"Thibaud's wines reflect his personality: honest, buoyant, and singular. They are sound and humble, slowly revealing depth and complexity rather than being direct and in your face."
— Living Wine
Côte-Rôtie & Saint-Joseph & the Heroic Terraces
Chavanay is a small commune in the Loire department, on the right bank of the Rhône River, sandwiched between the three legendary appellations of Condrieu, Côte-Rôtie, and Saint-Joseph. It is a landscape of almost absurd verticality — terraces carved into hillsides so steep that farming them requires a combination of mountaineering and viticulture. The Rhône Valley here is narrow, the river fast, and the slopes rise abruptly from the water's edge to plateaus 300 metres above. This is not gentle Burgundy; this is heroic farming, and Thibaud's vineyards are among the most challenging in a region already famous for its difficulty.
Thibaud's estate parcels are located in two distinct zones. The first, his pride and joy, sits just above the town of Ampuis, to the north of the illustrious Côte Brune. This plot was once forested; Thibaud cleared it and built stone retaining walls to prevent erosion and make farming possible on the 45-degree-plus slope. The vines are staked on crossed wooden poles to anchor them against the aggressive Bise — the relentless local wind that howls down the valley — and to make navigating the terraces more manageable. The soil here is granite and schist, with the schist breaking down into friable clay that increases nutrient and water availability. Between the vines, winter clover grows happily, replenishing the soil, while elderflower and apricot trees mark the perimeter. His neighbour higher on the slope is one of only a handful of producers farming organically, meaning no synthetic pesticides or herbicides make their way down the hill. Thibaud sits between a gully and a forest, making his plot an island of biodiversity in an incredibly exploited region.
The second estate zone lies further north, toward Saint-Joseph, and features something rare for the region: limestone. Unlike the southern section of Côte-Rôtie, where granite dominates, the northern sector is characterised by schist and, in Thibaud's case, pockets of prized limestone that add brightness and precision to the wines. Here, the granite breaks down into unstable sand, making erosion a constant worry and necessitating the building of terraces. But the limestone provides a counterweight — a chalky freshness and a structural rigour that is uncommon in Syrah from this part of the valley. Large chunks of pink quartz can be found among the vines, proof of how geologically diverse this place really is. The exposure is east-facing — a choice that the older generation would have dismissed but that Thibaud embraced, believing that with rising temperatures, the cooler morning sun would preserve acidity and freshness where south-facing slopes might overripen.
The farming is organic — no synthetic herbicides, no pesticides, no synthetic fertilisers. Thibaud is not certified, but his practices exceed the spirit of organic farming: hand-tending on slopes that machinery cannot access, rebuilding terraces by hand, planting cover crops, and maintaining the biodiversity that the forest and gully provide. The goal is not maximum yield but maximum expression — grapes that carry the full mineral and microbial fingerprint of the Northern Rhône soils, essential for the spontaneous, low-intervention winemaking that defines the project. The climate is continental with Mediterranean influence — hot summers, cold winters, and the moderating effect of the Rhône River. The Bise wind dries the vines after rain and prevents disease, while the east-facing exposure ensures slow, even ripening. The result is a terroir that produces wines of bright acidity, floral aromatics, and a strong mineral backbone — wines that have the power of the Northern Rhône but the freshness of a cooler, more considered approach.
Thibaud Capellaro is based in Chavanay, a commune on the right bank of the Rhône, between Condrieu, Côte-Rôtie, and Saint-Joseph. The estate comprises approximately 2 hectares of organic vines across steep, terraced parcels in Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph, plus a négociant line sourcing from Ardèche, the Gard, Monts du Lyonnais, and beyond. Founded in 2018. Thibaud is a first-generation winemaker, born in Condrieu with no family ties to viticulture. Situated on some of the steepest slopes in France, with stone retaining walls and crossed wooden poles to anchor vines against the Bise wind. The region is historically famous for powerful Syrah and perfumed Viognier; Thibaud is part of a new wave crafting precise, experimental, low-intervention expressions from this heroic terroir.
The vineyards sit on a mix of granite, schist, and rare limestone — a composition that is quintessentially Northern Rhône and unusually diverse. The granite provides the structural backbone and smoky mineral tension. The schist breaks down into friable clay, increasing nutrient and water availability. The limestone adds brightness, chalky freshness, and precision rare for the region. Large chunks of pink quartz prove the geological diversity. The east-facing exposure, once dismissed by the older generation, has become an asset with climate change — preserving acidity and freshness where south-facing slopes overripen. A terroir that demands heroism and rewards audacity.
Organic practices (not certified). No synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or fertilisers. All work done by hand on 45-degree-plus slopes that machinery cannot access. Stone retaining walls rebuilt by hand to prevent erosion. Crossed wooden poles anchor vines against the Bise wind. Winter clover and cover crops replenish the soil. The plot sits between a gully and a forest, an island of biodiversity in an exploited region. The goal is maximum expression — grapes that carry the full mineral and microbial fingerprint of the Northern Rhône soils, essential for spontaneous, low-intervention winemaking. The vineyard is not a factory; it is a mountainside that demands humility and physical courage.
In the cellar in Chavanay, everything is experimental. Thibaud uses a diverse array of vessels: old oak barrels of nearly every size, stainless steel tanks, fiberglass, terracotta, ceramic eggs, sandstone amphorae, and concrete tanks. He tests, he learns, he refuses to settle on a single method. The wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts, undergo natural malolactic conversion, and are bottled with minimal to zero SO2. No fining, no filtration. The cellar is not a technological facility; it is a laboratory where Thibaud provides the curiosity, the intuition, and the absolute refusal to follow a recipe. Each vessel is a different answer to the question of what the Northern Rhône can become.
Indigenous Yeasts & the Three Projects
The guiding philosophy of Thibaud Capellaro is expressed in three words: experimentation, precision, and transparency. He is not afraid to break the norms set by the appellation system in the Northern Rhône — a region whose conventions are as steep and rigid as its terraces. His approach is not a rejection of the Rhône's greatness but a deepening of it: using indigenous yeasts, whole-bunch fermentations, diverse vessels, and minimal sulfur to produce wines that are faithful to the terroir but free from the stylistic prescriptions that have governed the region for decades. The result is a portfolio that is typified by living acidity, floral clarity, and a mineral backbone that carries the unmistakable signature of granite, schist, and limestone — wines that are honest, buoyant, and singular.
Thibaud's operation is divided into three distinct projects, each with its own logic and identity. The first is his own domaine — roughly 2 hectares of organic vines in Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph, farmed by hand on heroic terraces and vinified with the same minimal intervention that governs everything he does. The second is Slope, the micro-négociant he founded in 2018, through which he sources organic grapes from small growers in Ardèche (notably Gérald Oustric of Le Mazel), Saint-Joseph, Coteaux du Lyonnais, the Gard, and even Piedmont. Slope allows him to explore terroirs beyond his own slopes and to work with varieties and soils that his estate cannot provide. The third is Juicy Squad, a collaborative négociant project with friends, where the idea is to vinify grapes sourced outside the region — sometimes from another country entirely — in a spirit of creative experimentation and shared discovery.
The methodology is deliberately minimal and fundamentally Northern Rhône — but seen through a natural wine lens. All grapes are hand-harvested and transported immediately to the Chavanay cellar. Fermentation is spontaneous — initiated by the indigenous yeasts that live on the grape skins and in the wild air of the valley. Thibaud does not inoculate with cultured yeasts, adjust temperatures aggressively, or force the wine into a predetermined shape. He uses whole-cluster fermentations extensively, adding stem spice, structural tension, and a savoury complexity that complements the fruit. The wines are pressed and aged in a variety of vessels — neutral oak, amphora, ceramic, concrete, stainless steel — each chosen to bring out a different aspect of the terroir. The wines are neither fined nor filtered, and sulfur is used only when absolutely necessary — some cuvées see no additives at all, while others receive a minimal dose right before bottling. Thibaud is transparent about his SO2 usage, a rarity in an industry that often hides behind vague claims of "natural" practice.
The result is a portfolio of wines that are as diverse as the vessels that shape them: sturdy skin-fermented whites, ethereal rosés, powerful Syrahs, a Dolcetto made from smuggled Piedmontese grapes, and collaborations with rising winemakers like Etienne Seignovert. The wines are not polished into shiny perfection; they are guided with patience and intuition, allowed to reveal their depth slowly rather than being forced into immediate appeal. As one importer noted after a visit: "I left feeling incredibly excited about his supreme work ethic, dedication to authentic flavours, absolute precision in the winery, and easygoing charm." This is the Northern Rhône of the new generation — not the heavy, extracted, oak-drenched image of the past, but the precise, experimental, and deeply human Rhône of a first-generation winemaker who grew up in its shadow and chose to step out of it.
Indigenous Yeasts, Whole Cluster & the Vessel Laboratory
The guiding principle of Thibaud Capellaro's winemaking is that the wine is made in the vineyard and shaped in the cellar — not dictated by appellation rules or consultant recipes. His approach — organic farming on heroic terraces in Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph, hand harvest, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, whole-bunch vinification, diverse vessel ageing (old oak, amphora, ceramic, concrete, stainless steel), and minimal to zero sulfur — is not a rejection of the Northern Rhône but a deepening of its possibilities. The indigenous yeasts capture the microbial fingerprint of the granite, schist, and limestone. The whole-bunch fermentation adds stem spice and structural tension. The diverse vessels provide a spectrum of textures and expressions. The minimal sulfur policy ensures that the wine speaks with the unvarnished voice of the terroir. The cellar is not a factory; it is a laboratory where Thibaud provides the curiosity, the precision, and the absolute refusal to follow a single method.
Côte-Rôtie, Pierre Taillée & the Slope Portfolio
Thibaud Capellaro produces a focused, experimental portfolio from roughly 2 hectares of organic estate vines in Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph, supplemented by carefully sourced organic grapes from Ardèche, the Gard, Monts du Lyonnais, and beyond through his Slope négociant line. The wines are not merely bottles; they are expressions of three projects — each cuvée a reflection of a specific terroir, a specific vessel, and the restless, curious mind of a first-generation winemaker who refuses to be bound by convention. The portfolio spans red, white, orange, and rosé, all united by a common foundation: hand-picked grapes, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, whole-bunch or carefully considered destemming, diverse vessel ageing, and minimal to zero sulfur. The estate wines carry the appellation names he is slowly earning the right to use; the Slope wines are declassified Vin de France, freed from the rules that Thibaud finds constraining. The names are evocative and personal: Pierre Taillée — cut stone, the essence of Northern Rhône Syrah; Terra — earth, a pure Ardèche expression; La Canuse — an "inverse Côte-Rôtie" that flips the region's conventions on their head; Zé-RO — zero sulfur, zero compromise; Le Temps d'une Bise — the time of the wind, a Saint-Joseph ode; and Ombre & Lumière — shadow and light, a collaboration with Etienne Seignovert. The portfolio is small but maintains artisanal integrity, and every bottle is a testament to the conviction that the Northern Rhône should be precise, experimental, and deeply human.
"I left feeling incredibly excited about his supreme work ethic, dedication to authentic flavours, absolute precision in the winery, and easygoing charm. He was so generous with his time, answering a thousand questions in my broken French."
— Juice Imports
The Rebel Manifesto & the Northern Rhône Truth
To understand Thibaud Capellaro, one must understand that he is not merely a winemaker; he is a first-generation insurgent, a vessel obsessive, and a proof that the Northern Rhône can be reinvented from within. The identity of the project is defined by the man — Thibaud, Condrieu-born, business-school-educated, Australian-trained, and resolutely independent. The identity is also defined by three parallel projects — the estate, Slope, and Juicy Squad — each a different answer to the question of what natural wine in the Rhône can be. The estate is the anchor: small, heroic, terroir-driven. Slope is the explorer: a négociant line that sources the best organic grapes from Ardèche to Piedmont. Juicy Squad is the playground: a collaborative project with friends, vinifying grapes from outside the region in a spirit of creative freedom. Together, they form a portfolio that is not merely a collection of bottles but a philosophy in action.
The identity is also defined by refusal — the refusal to inherit, the refusal to follow appellation conventions, the refusal to use a single vessel or a single method, the refusal to hide sulfur usage behind vague marketing, and the refusal to treat the Northern Rhône as a museum piece rather than a living tradition. Thibaud's east-facing terraces, once dismissed by the old guard, are now his greatest asset. His "inverse Côte-Rôtie" (La Canuse) is not a gimmick but a genuine question: what happens when you reverse the ratio? His Dolcetto from smuggled Piedmontese grapes is not a joke but a declaration that borders are irrelevant to terroir. The wines reflect this intentionality: they are not casual, not rustic, not naive. They are precise, experimental, and deeply considered — the product of a mind that treats winemaking as both science and art, both discipline and play.
The future of Thibaud Capellaro is tied to the continued health of his 2 hectares of heroic terraces, the deepening of organic practices, the expansion of the Slope négociant network, and the continued refinement of a portfolio that already spans estate wines, négociant cuvées, and international collaborations. Thibaud is eager to go further — to explore new vessels, new terroirs, and new varieties — but always with the same guiding principle: honest, buoyant, singular. The Côte-Rôtie will continue to be the estate flagship, the Pierre Taillée the classical soul, and the Zé-RO the uncompromising statement of intent. He does not chase trends; he chases the truth of his land and his curiosity, and he has the patience to let that truth speak in its own voice — a voice that is Condrieu-born, Chavanay-based, and unmistakably his own.
In an age of increasing industrialisation in wine — of global varieties, engineered yeasts, and corporate consolidation — Thibaud Capellaro stands as a compelling alternative, not because he rejects modernity but because he has embraced a deeper modernity: one that values organic farming over chemical convenience, hand harvest on heroic terraces over mechanical efficiency, indigenous yeasts over inoculation, whole-cluster fermentation over destemming, diverse vessels over standardised barrels, minimal to zero sulfur over cosmetic stability, experimental cuvées over appellation conformity, transparent winemaking over vague marketing, first-generation audacity over inherited comfort, and the specific voice of east-facing granite over the standardised replication of south-facing slopes. Thibaud Capellaro is not merely making wine; he is proving that a Condrieu native with no family estate can become the voice of the Northern Rhône's future, that 2 hectares of overlooked terraces can produce wines of international recognition, that a wine with nothing added but time and intention can possess the most profound identity, and that the simplest philosophy — honest, buoyant, singular — is often the most profound. From the first Slope vintage in 2018 to the wines of today: all united in three projects, one cellar, one unanswerable argument for the possibility of authentic, organic, hand-made, passionately honest wine from the granite heart of the Rhône.
Thibaud Capellaro — born in Condrieu, educated in business school, trained in Beaune, Australia, and with André Perret. On ~2 hectares of organic, heroic terraces in Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph, and through the Slope négociant line sourcing from Ardèche, Gard, Monts du Lyonnais, and Piedmont, he crafts wines with indigenous yeasts, whole-cluster fermentations, diverse vessel ageing, and minimal to zero sulfur. Founder of three projects: the estate, Slope, and Juicy Squad. This is a winery where a first-generation winemaker found his voice and produces wines of unmistakable precision, experimentation, and Northern Rhône truth.
Four absolute commitments: organic farming on some of France's steepest terraces, hand harvest, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts and whole clusters, and diverse vessel ageing in old oak, amphora, ceramic, concrete, and stainless steel. Minimal to zero sulfur. No fining, no filtration. The wines are as natural and precise as Northern Rhône wine comes — farmed by hand on heroic slopes, spontaneously fermented, and bottled with nothing but the unvarnished truth of the grape. A proof that a first-generation winemaker, when guided by curiosity and transparency, often produces the purest, most characterful wines. The cellar is not a factory; it is a laboratory where Thibaud provides the precision, the intuition, and the absolute refusal to follow a single method.