Jean Baptiste Semmartin

Jean-Baptiste Semmartin, in his forties, had a first life before entering the wine world. Originally from Tarbes, this professional fencer lived 10 years in Paris, before turning to viticulture. After a viti-oeno diploma, he had a brainwave when he met Emmanuel Giboulot, who made him taste his Lulunne 2008: big slap, he understood that he wanted to make wine and how he wanted to do it. Jean-Baptiste stayed three years at Giboulot Estate, and is still very much influenced by Burgundy winemaking. It was the call of the South-West that pushed him to return to his native land, he left for Jurançon and worked in a large estate for five years, started making wine for him in 2015 and officially settled in Domaine Lajibe in 2018, which now has eight hectares grown biodynamically, and where his partner Juliana has joined him. “I feel super lucky, I have great plots ; every time I make a wine I hope I will like it myself first, I really do things through love”. A sensitivity and a passion that are reflected in the wines.