MNN - Mother Nature Network

When Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie leased the 1,000-acre, $60 million Chateau Miraval in Correns, France in 2008 (they've since purchased it), I pointed out over on Ecorazzi that the spread also included a 75-acre organic vineyard. Perhaps they might one day sell their own wine? 

 

According to People, that day is March 15, when the power couple will release Miraval, a new wine label that will launch with a 2012 vintage pink rosé. Organic reds and whites are soon to follow. Each of the specially designed bottles will include the label "Bottled by Jolie-Pitt and Perrin." 

 

Perrin is Marc Perrin, a French winemaker whose family owns Chateau Beaucastel in the Rhone Valley and are partners with Jolie and Pitt in the venture. 

 

“We are intimately involved and quite enthused over the wine project with our friends the Perrin family,” Pitt said yesterday in a statement. 

 

One aspect of the project that has been immensely important to both parties is the production of wines using only organic grapes, something the Perrin family helped pioneer as early as the 1950s. Before Pitt and Jolie scooped up Miraval, the estate was already employing sustainable methods to manage its grapes. 

 

"Miraval's vineyards are partly in the district of Correns, famous for being the first village in France where all farm produce is biologically produced," the website says. "Fanny Croisy, Miraval's head of French Sales and Exports, notes that 'It took 4 years to become certified organic. No chemicals can be used on the grapes as these can enter the plant and end up in the wine.' Therefore, at Miraval no herbicides, pesticides or fungicides are used, only naturally occurring compounds such as sulfates and copper sulphate."

 

Over on Decanter.com, Perrin told the site that Pitt and Jolie are launching a full geological survey of the estate, as well as other investments related to the business.

 

"They (the Jolie-Pitts) want to ensure they are making the best Provence wines they can," he said. "They were present at the blending sessions this year, and are relooking at everything from the installations in the winery — where we have already switched to stainless steel tanks — to reworking the labels across the range of wines."