I grew up in Lyon thinking I would become a fighter pilot or an engineer. I never considered wine until I was in Bordeaux working mobile bottling lines to pay for graduate school. The infectious passion of the winemakers I met, showing up day after day with the same fire in their eyes, blew me away. I switched my focus to oenology and completed two degrees, then left France to intern with Andy Erickson and explore uncharted possibilities in Napa Valley. I worked hard, learned from everyone, and pushed myself to deliver the kind of winemaking I believe in. I’ve never missed a picking day, and I’ll spend as much time as it takes to get the wines right. I started Fait-Main because I fell in love with a vineyard… and then another, and another.
Benoit Touquette’s journey on the leading edge of fine winemaking spans continents. From Bordeaux to Napa, he built in his early years the foundation of his talents under world-renowned winemaker Michel Rolland. He soon became one of Napa Valley’s most sought-after winemakers, and now partner at Realm Cellars. He has pursued a balance of elegance and power in his craft, achieving 28 x 100-point ratings along the way.
“I don’t want anything handed to me, I want to take it. It’s only when you push yourself to the edge that you find out what you are truly capable of.”
