Since around 1880
Our story
Five generations of winemakers in Cournou. From the EARL founded in 1998 by Pierre Benac to the 2021 expansion in Douelle.
Clos de Pougette is the patient work of a winemaking family rooted in Cournou, in the commune of Saint-Vincent-Rive-d'Olt, in the Lot department of South-West France. Vines have been cultivated here since the late 19th century — around 1880 — by the ancestors of Pierre Benac, today's winegrower. Five generations have worked these plots, each one adding their own touch, sometimes their doubts, always their work.
From sharecropping to an independent estate
Like many estates in the Quercy region, the farm went through several forms over the decades — sharecropping, mixed subsistence farming, bulk sales to the local co-op — before becoming, in the 1990s, an independent winery selling its bottled wines directly from the estate. This slow and demanding transition gave Clos de Pougette its identity, visibility and economic autonomy.
EARL Clos de Pougette, 1998
On 1 January 1998, the farm takes the legal form of an EARL — Exploitation Agricole à Responsabilité Limitée — under the name EARL Clos de Pougette, with a share capital of €76,224.51. This structure secured the estate's future and allowed it to invest in the cellar, in winemaking equipment, and in the first quality-driven steps (hand-picking, single-plot selection, oak ageing).
The organic conversion
In the early 2010s, the estate commits to converting to organic farming, which has since become the signature of Clos de Pougette. This wasn't a marketing choice: it reflected Pierre Benac's deep conviction about the relationship with soil, with living things, with craft. The same conviction led, later, to the introduction of pigs into the vine rows — a marginal practice, but coherent with a philosophy of living viticulture.
The 2021 expansion to Douelle
In 2021, the estate expanded with 5 additional hectares in Douelle, on the first and second terraces of the Lot valley. These new plots, with a soil profile different from the Cournou causses, broaden the range of terroirs available to us and open the door to new cuvées — without compromising on the organic commitment that applies to the whole estate.
One estate, 22 hectares, one family
Today, Clos de Pougette covers 22 hectares, planted mostly with Malbec — the king grape of Cahors — alongside Merlot (for blending), Tanat (for structure) and Chenin (rare here, used for our white). The farm remains family-run, led by Pierre Benac, open to visitors and motorhome travellers, faithful to a certain idea of South-West France: simple hospitality, a generous pour, a love of the craft.
The signature: the vines, the pigs, the smile
If we had to sum up Clos de Pougette in one image today, it would be this: a row of Malbec under an October sun, a pig grazing peacefully at calf-height, and Pierre going by on the tractor with a wave of the hand. That image — both prosaic and magnificent — is the result of five generations of patience.