The Story.

It’s the 8th of July 2016, the day my sister decides to cancel her planned wedding in The Ardennes, Belgium. The wedding was supposed to take place the year after at – what I believe – is to be the most exquisite chateau in the world. Her ‘little’ brother – me – just left the oncologist with a smile spread wide across his face, however the look on my parents’ face said all, my cancer had spread. It was Friday, my treatment started on Tuesday.

The world moves on and time doesn’t stand still, never. From there on, it all went downhill quickly. I’ve always been very fit, in fact I have never been more fit than I was at the time.

However, I had lost a total of sixteen kilograms over three weeks’ time and during my second treatment of chemotherapy I stumbled upon a strange side effect that paralyzed my entire body. The upside to this: I can’t remember much of this awful period of time, the downside: I wasn’t allowed to drive. 

If anyone would ask me what my life’s passions are, the first answer would be: cars. The second answer nowadays is: champagne. In the Netherlands champagne is somewhat seen as a celebratory drink, I’d like for you to turn this around. Don’t store the bottles in your fridge, waiting for a moment to celebrate, but create a moment yourself to open those bottles. Every time that cork shoots straight into the air, please realize that you yourself are able to do that today.

The biggest remedy during my illness and also my recovery was created by my greatest example, my father. Together (and with a lot of help), we managed to build a Porsche in a very short time. We took this car and drove it to my sister’s wedding venue, the beautiful chateau in The Ardennes. There, during one of the most perfect days of my entire life, a new dream arose. To share my love for life itself and the pleasure of it with others, combined with magnificent products. And not just any products, but products that carry incredibly powerful stories along their right to exist. Just like the Porsche my father and I have built.

Like, a perfectly grown grape - with an unprecedented balance of sugars and acids – gets robbed of its life without any excuse or explanation. But after development, growth and above all perseverance, it builds up an extraordinary pressure and turns itself into a true sparkle in life. That’s how I feel today.

Good health is an assumption,

until the assumption is no longer healthy. 

Mitch Fontaine

Founder