i. Biography
David Labat works as winemaker at Château Vermont in Targon, France, where the measure of the job is seasonal labor, vineyard rows, and the continuity of family work. He entered the estate full time with his wife during the 2010 succession, and the rebuild that followed covered both the winery and the vineyard. The result was a renewed working shape for the property without breaking its identity. His own phrasing stays plain: “Vermont, a family business on a human scale.”
The Climb
Training at Lycée agricole de Montagne gave David Labat the basic structure behind the craft: discipline, observation, and the practical habits that support winemaking over time. That formation points to a method built on attention to the land, the vine, and the slow conversion of fruit into wine. Before Château Vermont became his daily center of work, the school provided the grammar of the métier — how to read conditions, how to respond, and how to keep the work steady.
Today
At Château Vermont in Targon, David Labat is responsible for the wine itself. On a family estate, that role is both technical and close to home, because each decision sits inside the larger question of continuity. Since the 2010 succession, the work has included rebuilding the framework around production as much as making the wine, bringing order back to the winery and the vineyard together. “Family business on a human scale” is less a slogan than a working description: an estate small enough to remain immediate, where responsibility and craft are carried in the same hands.
Signature
David Labat’s signature wines include rosé 2017, La Grande Cuvée, Fusion, AOC Bordeaux Blanc, and Fusion, AOC Bordeaux Rosé. Read together, they show the range of a working cellar at Château Vermont: rosé 2017 at one end, La Grande Cuvée at the other, with AOC Bordeaux Blanc and Fusion, AOC Bordeaux Rosé marking different forms of expression across the lineup. The cuvée names belong to the logic of an estate where each bottle has its own register while still remaining part of the same house.
In Their Words “Vermont, a family business on a human scale.” The line is brief, but it defines the scale of the work. It points to an estate built on direct contact rather than distance, where the family structure is not separate from production but part of it. In that restraint, Labat’s approach is clear: practical, grounded, and attentive to the place as it is worked.
Recognition
That position places David Labat inside the organized civic and professional life of the appellation. In Bordeaux, recognition is often less about display than about fit: belonging to a system of standards, stewardship, and repeated work year after year. Within that structure, Château Vermont reads as a family estate that is maintained through accountability as much as through output.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of David
What is David Labat's current role?
As of 2026, David Labat is Winemaker.
Where did David Labat train or study?
David Labat trained at Lycée agricole de Montagne.
