There are currently no producers for this region
Pages
-
-
Anytime that a book or report on Burgundy arrives, I can imagine the conversation over the Lumpp breakfast table. `Nice review for your wines, dear.` `Did they say my wines are solid, workmanlike and ambitious Givrys, dear?` `Of course, dear, well done.` Frustrating though that must be, it is at least part of the truth. There is also perfume and depth and great pleasure to be had from these excellent value wines. In 2009 the Domaine was our first visit and got us off to a flying start. Silky tannins and vivid acidity underpinned the fresh and complex fruit. -
Francois Raquillet is a typical modern Burgundian. He retains many strong links to the past but is constantly searching to improve his wines, either through better vineyard work or in the cellar. Blessed with a lot of old vines, he strives to keep yields fairly low, makes full use of a sorting table - which means throwing away a lot of fruit - and in the end the results are fruit-driven, pure wines that see a maximum of 30% new oak and are unobscured by it. Overall the style is robust but perfumed with well done tannins in the reds and dense, herby, citrussy whites.
-
-
Ghislaine Barthod makes an unlikely superhero. As charming as her wines, she exhibits little of the inner steel she had to have to take over her estate on inheritance, and improve it and the wines. And improve they have. Barthod wines continue to climb the league table, not only in Chambolle, but in Burgundy as a whole. Yet the tiny barrel cellar and less than fifteen acres of land cannot hope to supply the demand for the ten different wines produced, including a singular white. And incidentally Pinot Noir`s amazing tendency to mutate means that some white fruit is in Fuees and Beaux Bruns. -
-
The defining estate in Nuits-St-Georges. One hundred years after Henri Gouges returned from the First World War and became a pioneer of domaine bottling and a champion of the region, Gouges are going strong. The stewardship of Henri’s great-grandsons Greg and Antoine is winning round a new generation of fans, and these two cousins have had a cracking fifteen years in charge.
-
Our biggest new discovery of November 2019 was in Gevrey. The tasting at Henri Magnien completely bowled us over; we found intense, expressive wines, that were beautifully textured and bountifully aromatic. We decided on the spot we had to have them. This is another domaine with a lot of history behind it - the Magniens go back to 1656, and the affable Charles Magnien, who took over a decade ago, represents no less than the twelfth generation here. Not only do they have some fantastic sites with old vines, they even have their very own clone of Pinot Noir.
-
Hubert Lamy continues to produce wines that are equal parts genius and bonkers. We refer to them as the Cotat of St-Aubin. Who else would plant as many as 30,000 vines per hectare, risking the wrath of the appellation authorities just to see if it makes better wine? It does, by the way!
-
-
-
Thank goodness the Chauvenet estate isn`t just a few pocket handkerchief size bits of land scattered round the region, because this is another address where the yields are falling year on year at the moment. Despite this, Christophe still has wine to sell. A witty but reserved man with an appealing combination of confidence and humility, his wines, which in some respects pay homage to Henri Jayer, though less obtrusively oaked, continue in the ageworthy mould.
-
The thirtieth of October 2008. A milestone in my wine education, because the day was bookended by visits to and tastings with Fourrier and Grivot. My Burgundy obsession is shamefully recent, but even I have verticals of Fourrier wines going back to 2001, three years after Jean-Marie, whose evil twin is Rafa Benitez, began making the great strategic decisions that have taken him close to the top of the league in Burgundy. -
Over the last twenty years, Benoit Droin has shown an ever more adroit hand, reaffirming Droin`s place in the region`s top tier. In his time in charge he has dialled back on the new oak his father introduced, switched all fermentations to indigenous yeast and, after extensive experimentation, moved to Diam closures for all cuvees - he believes these are a better guarantee of quality and longevity. With an impressive array of crus his wines constitute a fascinating flavour map of Chablis terroir. /NT -
-
`Moi, j’aime les vins avec energie, fraicheur, vigueur.` The wines of Joseph Colin are tense and intense, complex and energetic - a little like the man himself. This is still a relatively new domaine, but you`d never know that from the quality of the wines. Since 2016 Joseph has cultivated his share of the Colin family vineyards, six hectares spread across Chassagne, Puligny and Saint Aubin. He resists what he sees as the classificatory straitjacket of biodynamic viticulture, but has nevertheless adopted many biodynamic practices.
-
Maison, landowner, producer, negociant; Joseph Drouhin make a stunning set of wines from some of Burgundy’s finest terroirs, and apply the very best of modern practice in viticulture and vinification. Their vineyard-focused approach, foregrounding low yields, high density plantings, organics and biodynamics mean all their wines are marked by a strong sense of its individual terroir.
The domaine is run according to strict biodynamic principles.
-
Bruno Lorenzon farms 9 hectares between Mercurey and Montagny, but when you taste his wines it`s easy to forget where you are - they have the breed and class of somewhere much more glamorous than their postcode! Montagny is most known for its white wines, and Bruno`s are outstanding. Mont Laurent is meticulously crafted, full of focus, drive and elegance, Choix du Roy combines generous yellow fruit with intensity, good structure and a chiselled, saline finish. A very welcome addition to our portfolio. (NT 16/02/21)
-
Jadot is a producer of two faces. On the one hand they are one of Burgundy`s largest and most prolific negociant producers, whose wines appear in supermarkets and high street chains in many countries. On the other, they own and farm plots and monopoles in some of the region`s most desirable real estate. Their iconic leader on the winemaking front is Jacques Lardiere, who - shockingly - is obsessed with terroir, rather than easy drinking fruit. His concerns are much taken up with the rock under the soil and making wines with as little intervention as possible.
-
-
At Domaine Marc Colin, Damien and his sister Caroline are making some seriously good, high-energy wine. The domaine dates back to the 1970s, and was built from the ground up by Marc Colin and his wife Michele, from vineyards that had been in their families for generations. Two of Marc’s four children have since gone their own ways, taking their share of family vineyards; so Pierre-Yves left to start Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, and Joseph left to start Domaine Joseph Colin. Damien and his sister Caroline stayed in control of Marc Colin.
-
Méo-Camuzet is an unrecognisable Domaine from what it was thirty years ago and Jean-Nicolas is evolving in harmony. In the early eighties the Méo family were more or less running the estate as absentee landlords. Jean-Nicolas said that at that time Vosne was a holiday home. They had some exceptional vineyards and some more than decent tenants though, especially one Henri Jayer. Changes to French laws meant essentially that the family had to start farming their own land or would have to sell it - not an appealing prospect. -
Michel Gros went straight from Beaune Viticultural High School in 1975 to work with his father Jean in the family wine business. He is the 6th generation of the Gros family to make wine since his Great, Great, Great Grandfather settled in Vosne-Romanee in 1830. At one stage the family owned 2 ha of Richebourg and 3 ha of Echezeaux, since diluted amongst descendents. After receiving his own parcel of 2 ha from his father in 1979, Michel continued to acquire various parcels in Burgundy while simultaneously looking after the family business. -
Auditioning to be a location in the last Harry Potter opus, the atmospheric, black mould-covered cellar with its low ceiling houses some of the best wines of the area. Lafarge is undoubtedly one of the finest Cote de Beaune producers. They craft pure and understated wines, real terroir-driven Burgundy, made as it always has been without any great fuss or marketing noises. Only 20% new oak is used on many of the wines as purity of fruit is vital to the operation. -
At Michel Niellon, they work in a slightly richer style, making ripe and concentrated wines that still retain precision and elegance. The domaine has a massive following in the USA but we have managed to claw some back for the UK! These days, Niellon is managed by Michel Niellon`s son-in-law Michel Coutoux and his grandson Matthieu Bresson. Fermentations take place in stainless steel before the wines are transferred to barrique, 20-30% new, for malolactic fermentation and ageing. These are wines that develop well, into highly sought after wines.
