We make two kinds of wine at Shuette, and they exist for different reasons.
Two ranges, one standard
Our core grower wines are grown and made at Shuette. There are six regular cuvées, and we make only 2.5k bottles of each. Every wine is handcrafted and aged for longer to create a complex wine that is perfect for a restaurant setting. We also occasionally release single-barrel wines and seasonal variations, so that we can capture the best style for the grapes we have grown that year.
Renegades are something else: exciting, fresh wines that are easy to drink, made to be poured by the glass and shared with friends. These are négociant wines, made at Shuette by Ian to the same standard as our grower wines, but at a larger volume (currently 79k bottles per year) and usually available within 12 months of harvest.
Why Renegades matters to us
A generation ago, Bordeaux had nearly 14,000 wine growers. Today it has fewer than 5,000. Yet the land farmed and the volume of wine produced are almost the same.
Smaller growers are being forced out by multinationals and economic hardship. Today only around 24% are certified organic, and the number of vineyards in conversion dropped by 45% in 2026.
The shift to industrial winemaking threatens the entire ecosystem. It increases the reliance on pesticides and herbicides, which affects both the environment and the quality of the wine. With a growing number of vineyards being uprooted, abandoned or converted to industrial farming, the region is in danger of losing its legacy.
Doing what we can to Help
Our mission with Renegades is to support quality independent organic growers in Bordeaux by committing to buy their fruit, and to craft natural wines from it at Shuette at an accessible price point.
By partnering directly with independent, organic grape growers, Shuette helps ensure that these dedicated artisans receive a fair price for their hard work. In 2024 we found David, a gem of a grower in the hills of Pellegrue, Bordeaux. His organic vineyard faces south and sits on limestone soil. We worked with him on the vineyard cultivation, the harvest and the pressing, before moving the must to Shuette for fermentation in our traditional concrete tanks.
That is what Renegades is about: good fruit from independent organic growers, made into natural wines for sharing with friends.