Tertre Roteboeuf and Francois Mitjavile’s fates were tied together when Francois Mitjavile married Miloute, daughter of Emile Gilard, the original owner of Tertre Roteboeuf and Bellefont Belcier. Before Francois Mitjavile began working at Tertre Roteboeuf, his wife Miloute focused mainly on managing the vineyards, whilst her cousins took care of winemaking. Francois Mitjavile was by that time part of the Chateau Figeac’s team where he groomed his winemaking skills. In 1977, Mitjavile returned to his wife’s estate, and made the change of name to Tertre Roteboeuf. Nowadays, Tertre Roteboeuf was unofficially called “Grilled Beef” among Hong Kong wine connoisseurs and that is indeed quite an accurate reflection of Mitjavile’s intention behind his name change. Tertre Roteboeuf loosely translates into “Hill of the burping cattles”. The name made reference to the fact that during medieval times, the vineyards were actually used to rear cattles.

The Mitjavile era began with a modernized approach to winemaking – yields were reduced, an increasing portion of new French oak is being used for maturation; and harvest dates were pushed back in order to obtain riper fruit. In the vineyards, organic and more sustainable techniques are used, thus improving the overall quality of fruit. All these contributed to constant rise in quality and status of Tertre Roteboeuf. In about 10 years time, by vintage 1989, Tertre Roteboeuf rose to become one of the best wines from St Emilion.

Tertre Roteboeuf is planted predominantly to Merlot, with about 20% of their 6 hectare vineyard planted to Cabernet Franc. The estate neighbours Troplong Mondot and Pavie, taking over the southeastern corner of St Emilion. Under Mitjavile’s guidance, Tertre Roteboeuf made their own unique approach on how they manage their vines and make their wines. They harvest later than their neighbours, and their vineyard training differs in a way such that they create a warmer microclimate for their fruit – thus maximizing berry ripeness and maturity. In a world of Bordeaux where vignerons are seeking to draw back from using 100% new oak, Tertre Roteboeuf has continued to embrace this practice whilst remaining in full control on ensuring balance in their wines.

As leading Right Bank producers began to depart from the St Emilion classification system, Tertre Roteboeuf proudly remained one of those whom has never been part of the system, and probably never will be. After all, Mitjavile and his family’s strong philosophy on grapegrowing and winemaking have brought global acclaim and following for their wines, evidenced by the continuous climb of the prices for their wines over the years.