The Domaine

The Ensemble of the Domaine

Of course great wine is teamwork — what else? From the vine to the glass, quality arises where craft, experience and attitude play together — like voices in a suite.

Where Responsibility Rests

Marc and Ellen Ruhland took over the domaine in 2023. They set the direction and create the framework in which the daily work can succeed.

Marc Ruhland

Marc Ruhland

Propriétaire & Estate Management

Profile.
Formerly a co-founder of All-In-Group GmbH, Marc brings entrepreneurial drive, clarity of process and digital excellence to winegrowing. His vision: to scale without losing identity. That attitude shapes LaSuite – from precise annual planning to sharpening the character of each individual wine. Marc directs the transformation of this historic estate into a coherent brand world in which aesthetics, substance and customer experience mesh seamlessly.

Responsibility.

  • Strategy, brand architecture & portfolio management
  • Team leadership & a lived culture of quality
  • Global partner network & business development

Leitmotif: A great experience arises when vision and detail sound in accord.

Ellen Ruhland

Ellen Ruhland

Propriétaire & Artistic Direction

Profile. A trained concert pianist, curator and bridge-builder between music and wine. Ellen shapes our cultural programme – from organising concerts to arranging the wines to match a given theme – translating musical structure into an elegant aesthetic of wine. As a pianist she performs under her own name, Ellen Seidel.

Responsibility.

  • Music curation & events, support for young musicians
  • Brand image, tonality & visitor experience
  • Collaborations at the intersection of culture & wine

Leitmotif: when wine and music listen to one another, depth emerges.

The Team of the Domaine

In the vineyard, in the cellar and in administration: the team that carries the daily life of the domaine.

Bruno Jammy-Fonbeney

Bruno Jammy-Fonbeney

Chef de culture (vineyard management)

Profile. Grounded in craft, sound in agronomy: Bruno combines gentle soil work, canopy management and biodiversity with modern monitoring. The aim is vital vines, deep roots and grapes with natural tension – the foundation of elegant wines.

Responsibility.

  • Pruning & cycle planning, canopy & water balance
  • Plant protection with a sense of proportion, encouraging beneficial insects
  • Harvest logistics & grape quality in the vineyard

Leitmotif: the rhythm of the year sets the tempo of our quality.

Stéphane Apelbaum

Stéphane Apelbaum

Winemaker (Direction Œnologique)

Profile. A precise stylist with a feeling for finesse and balance. He thinks from the taste backwards: grape ripeness rather than degrees of alcohol, structure rather than effects, the blend as a composition. Half-yearly tasting cycles with an internal panel and external oenologists safeguard drinking maturity and continuity.

Responsibility.

  • Harvest and ripeness decisions, vinification of white, red & rosé
  • Barrel & tank direction, blending
  • Sensory quality assurance & maturity assessment

Leitmotif: as in a suite – lead each movement clearly, and in the end the whole must sound.

Mario Crespo

Mario Crespo

Finance & Administration

Profile. Structured, forward-looking, service-minded: Mario keeps figures, processes and supply chains in time – from purchasing to customs and export, from price lists to club billing. What is cleanly planned leaves the wine the calm it needs.

Responsibility.

  • Budget & controlling, purchasing and supplier management
  • Compliance (e.g. organic/HVE), export formalities
  • Club and shop processes, invoicing

Leitmotif: good organisation is the quiet accompanying voice of great wines.

Jean Commet

Jean Commet

Vineyard & Cellar


Profile.
The quiet keeper of time. Outside, Jean lays the foundation of quality through pruning and organic protection. In the cellar he continues that care seamlessly: he is not only the guardian of hygiene but carries out the daily extraction work – remontage, bâtonnage and soutirage – with the same craftsman's precision as the maintenance of our machinery.

Responsibility.

  • Pruning, soil work and organic protection of the vines
  • Cellar work: remontage, bâtonnage, soutirage & hygiene
  • Servicing and upkeep of the harvest and cellar machinery

Leitmotif: pure notes come from daily precision.

Dursun Uregin

Dursun Uregin

Animals, Woodland, Grounds & Building Projects

Profile. The “set designer” of LaSuite. Dursun looks after the ecological balance beyond the vines: he tends the woodland, the park and the animals, creating a living habitat. At the same time he safeguards the fabric of the estate. Whether it is the upkeep of historic buildings or a new construction project – Dursun finds the right solution for every practical challenge.

Responsibility.

  • Care of biodiversity: upkeep of woodland, park and green spaces
  • Looking after the animals and the ecological compensation areas
  • Realising building projects and maintaining the buildings

Leitmotif: a living ecosystem is the resonating chamber of quality.

Yohan Marty

Yohan Marty

Cellar & Technology (Chai)

Profile. A hands-on practitioner with a fine sensory instinct: Yohan translates the winemaker's line into daily decisions – reading fermentation curves, holding temperature windows, remontage with feeling, barrel care with patience. Quiet interventions, clean work, clear results.

Responsibility.

  • Fermentation management & hygiene, remontage/pigeage
  • Racking & clarification, barrel and tank management
  • Micro-oxygenation & stability, technical audits

Leitmotif: care in every movement – so that the wine can speak freely.

Mico Lechat

Mico Lechat

Head of Snake Deterrence and Bowl Culture

Profile. After long travels around the world, Mico joined LaSuite of his own accord at the tender age of four and has resided in our atelier ever since – with a direct reporting line to the food bowl.
Musically he prefers the adagio (Brahms before sunrise), structures his power naps according to the 25-minute Pomodoro method and is regarded as a certified expert in laser-dot pursuit; bottle cartons serve him as mobile observation posts – and wherever a cork rolls, Mico is already on duty.

Responsibility.

  • Pest prevention & barrel protection: audited freedom from field mice in the chai and around the wooden barrels.
  • Perimeter patrols: night and twilight rounds between the vines and the cellar.
  • Bowl culture & time keeping: punctual feeding reminders
  • “Rolling Cork” security service: immediate response to rolling corks, tapes and loose crates.

Leitmotif: a quiet purr is the best noise cancelling there is.

At the domaine, quality arises where people take responsibility — and let the work come first.

Get to know the place and its legacy.