It’s partly the fine winemaking, and partly the low availability, and partly the fact that the holdings here are a focussed range of fine Chambolle, but the wines of Domaine Barthod are among the most sought-after we have to divide up en primeur. Even the Bourgogne Rouge (labelled as ‘Les Bons Batons’ in some markets) is a hot ticket, well beyond what you would expect from a Bourgogne Rouge at most addresses. It ages well, and in most vintages it will only be getting into its stride when others of its level have faded. The fruit for Ghislaine’s Chambolle-Musigny come from no less than 11 sites in the north, south, east and west of the village vineyards, so Ghislaine thinks it’s pretty representative!

The domaine goes back to 1960, when Gaston Barton, who had married the daughter of winemaker Marcel Noellat, gave up his life as a soldier for a life in the vines. His daughter Ghislaine continued after him. Nowadays, she shares a Chambolle cellar with her husband Louis Boillot, whose own domaine and its more diversely located holdings are kept commercially separate. These days, winemaking at both these parallel domaines is carried out Ghislaine and Louis’ son Clement. The winemaking is the same across both domaines, with the fruit destalked (except for at Louis’ Beaujolais holdings) and the wines bottled without fining or filtration. No more than thirty per cent new oak is used to raise even the premier crus. (NT 08/08/25)