Presentation of Château Castillonne - caviar production

Producing caviar without killing sturgeon! This almost insane project was the brainchild of François René, an agricultural engineer and research director at Ifremer. In 1974, he was appointed to welcome 3,000 sturgeons donated by Russia to France. After arriving in what is now Occitanie, the fish were sold in Aquitaine, a region better suited to breeding this species, to create the French caviar industry. In 2016, François René, then retired, began experimenting with his quasi-revolutionary idea: initial trials showed that around 50% of the fish survived. His son Frédéric, an economist in Paris, took up the torch of his father's business, soon joined by Alan Brière-Pavia, a chef by training, and Léo Carpentier (HEI 2019), who gave up his job as a property developer.

The trio met at the fish farm set up on the outskirts of the beautiful Languedoc village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert.

So, what is this unique and exclusive technique employed at Château de Castillonne? The secret is well kept! Leo will tell us more during this discovery webinar!