A solidarity vintage, imagined by a patient of the Montpellier Regional Cancer Institute, to support supportive care

1500 bottles were drawn for the first vintage of Second Souffle. JM – JM

La production est installée sur 6 hectares à Aspiran. JM – JM

La production est installée sur 6 hectares à Aspiran. JM – JM

Des vins naturels produits en Coeur d'Hérault. JM – JM

1 euro is donated to the Montpellier Cancer Institute, to support supportive care, for each bottle of “Second Souffle” sold. The first 1,500 bottles were drawn from the 2023 harvest. The next vintage, in March 2024, promises 3,500 additional bottles.

Like a boost, a new intensity, a second life. “Second souffle” is the name of the vintage imagined by Sophie and Jean Yves who are vinifying their 5th harvest this year at the Vins Mont-Val estate in Aspiran. A bottle of natural wine, Grenache and Cinsault, of which €1 is donated for the follow-up of support care* provided at the ICM. The Montpellier Regional Cancer Institute where Sophie was treated after she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2020. No cigarettes, no alcohol, no genetic predispositions, yet nothing seemed to predispose her to contracting the disease. “Of course, I didn't have a very good harvest…”, she confides.

A very humane approach

A battery of tests, operations, chemo, radiation… “I was treated to the whole protocol.” She praises the Montpellier institute for its “medical teams great, a staff that listens to patients… My surgeon is a gem. I am very well looked after, with a lot of humanity. “The support in supportive care for the side effects helped her to stay on her feet. Like their vines, certified organic, in which she continued to work, a little, a few hours here and there, to the extent of the strength she had left. On the heights of Aspiran, these six hectares of land, with a 360° view of the terroir and the reliefs of the Heart of Hérault, are her breath of fresh air, her second wind. She continues to scrutinize the future there, to mature projects with the desire to “live simply and make good products”, natural wines. “We are not in a process where we want to amass money.” As a result, even though Sophie is still undergoing rigorous hormone therapy and remains a patient at the ICM, she was “ready for the 2021 harvest”.

“There are a lot of young people”

From harvest to harvest, the idea germinated. As if it were obvious. “This support care is essential and is financed by donations. Without it, people would be less supported. I often think of other patients, there are a lot of young people … That's why we made this vintage.” The first, that of 2023, has just been bottled. 1,500 bottles. In a few months, in the spring of 2025, 3,500 other “Second souffle” bottles will abound in the natural solidarity of the one who has not forgotten.

Sophie went to New York to meet new clients. DR – DR

Natural wines sold as far as New York

In Aspiran, Sophie Valancant and Jean-Yves Domont produce natural wines. The wine production of the estate, Les Vins Mont Val, comes from certified organic vines. The Vins Mont-Val estate now extends over 6 hectares on the heights of Aspiran. The couple began their installation in 2019, with only 1.5 hectares of vines!

Sophie Valancant is from Saint-Etienne, Jean-Yves Domont from Clermont… Ferrand. They worked in viticulture and trading as far as Australia, New Zealand… and Canet. The couple settled in Aspiran 5 years ago and launched their estate, Vins “Mont-Val”, a blend of their respective names. They scour the trade fairs of France to sell their production. At the beginning of 2024, Sophie went to New York where the “Big Apple&rdquo has opened its doors to the vintages of Vins Mont Val…

Supportive care: they include: pain management, physiotherapy, psycho-oncology, social services… non-drug therapies acupuncture, adapted physical activity. (Non-exhaustive list).
The Second souffle and the productions of Vins Mont Val are marketed in Gignac, at Les Caves Gourmandes, in Pézenas at La maison du vin and at Picamandil in Puissalicon. Price of “Second souffle” around €15.
Contact: 06 36 41 56 22 and vinsmontval@gmail.com
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