Cultivating Connections

On the shores of Lake Annecy, where Alpine peaks meet a light that feels almost Mediterranean, Les Vignes de Vascoz emerges as a truly singular endeavour. Both a wine estate and a place of creation, it embodies a vision: land to be shared, lived on and handed down through generations. Its motto, Cultivons nos liens, let us cultivate our connections, captures that ambition with quiet precision.

At the heart of the project lies an unlikely meeting of two remarkable lives. On the one hand, Vincent de Crayencour, a former officer who moved into the defence industry before earning an agricultural diploma in Normandy, and who has recently been appointed Deputy Mayor for Security of Annecy. On the other, Antoine Levavasseur, computer scientist and co-founder of the Free Group, who carries within him a deep-rooted family culture of the land. Together, they have reimagined an estate where innovation and ancestral agricultural knowledge exist in genuine dialogue, neither subordinate to the other.

Established mainly in Doussard across 22 hectares painstakingly assembled over time, the domain is built on one founding principle: agroforestry. Here, the tree gives shape to all living things. Roots converse with the soil through mycorrhizal networks which are invisible but essential. "We are not simply planting vines," says Vincent de Crayencour, "we are rebuilding an ecosystem." Several hundred fruit trees have already been planted using time-honoured methods, such as pollarding, which encourages natural regeneration

Vascoz forms part of a broader viticultural renaissance taking place around the lake, a movement that began a decade ago and of which he has now become one of the most committed voices. The estate's ambition is clear: to demonstrate that the viticulture of tomorrow will be resilient, open and collective. This ethos is expressed in participatory working days that have already brought hundreds of people together, as well as in educational programmes developed in partnership with local schools.

Yet Vascoz reaches well beyond the vineyard. The estate also aspires to be a cultural hub. Drawing inspiration from Château La Coste, it hosts artists in residence and is developing an ambitious programme spanning photography, the history of wine and contemporary creation, gradually becoming a space for dialogue between art and landscape. "We want the estate to become a regional reference point for contemporary art," its founder declares.

Three sites now anchor the project: Doussard (Verthier), Faverges, and Annecy-le-Vieux, where the Manoir de la Barallaz will house, among other things, a sommelier school directed by Olivier Chéreau: a way of weaving together the knowledge of wine with an understanding of the living world.

On the production side, the first cuvées will be released as early as this june, centred on a distinctive Mondeuse blend alongside a single-varietal white from the Jacquère grape. Alongside these, honey, wild garlic fleur de sel, and soon a short-circuit market garden are beginning to sketch the contours of a nourishing, diversified estate.

Agricultural, cultural and deeply human, Vascoz embodies a certain idea of the future: rooted, collective and open to all. A way, perhaps, of reimagining the relationship between those who tend the earth and those who simply love to live upon it.

Les Vignes de Vascoz, Doussard

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