Burgundy (White)

As well as working with his maternal grandmother, Marie-Josephe Gagnard (see Domaine Gagnard Delagrange), Marc-Antonin Blain is also making his own wines.  In keeping with the wise traditions of this exceptional Burgundian family, ownership of small parcels of vines are passed down the generations each year, and Marc-Antonin now has 1.16 hectares.  He has also taken over buildings in Chassagne, next to his parents (Domaine Blain Gagnard), which came from Marie-Josephe’s mother’s family (Bachelet) and were previously used by her father, Edmond Delagrange.

Bouchard Père et Fils is the largest vineyard owner of the Côte d'Or, with truly spectacular holdings in the Côte de Nuits and, more particularly, in the Côte de Beaune - where almost all the greatest sites are represented, all the way up to Chevalier and Montrachet.  The firm was founded in 1731, and has had its headquarters in the Château de Beaune, with its magnificent 15th centuray cellars, since 1820.  In 1995 the Bouchards were bought out by Joseph Henriot, whose family has been long-established in Champagne.  The house benefitted from much needed investment in the years which followed - some 30 additional hectares of vineyards were bought and, in 2005, the ultra modern winery came into operation, giving Philippe Prost and his winemaking team all they need to make some of Burgundy's finest wines.

Grégoire Bichot put this domaine together with the help of his father Bénigne, having decided not to join his family's famous négociant firm in Beaune.  He began working out of small cellars in Vosne Romanée which belonged to the firm, but his possession of the buildings proved rather less secure than he had imagined, and his occupation of them ceased in 2008.  Out of adversity however came a great opportunity - when Grégoire heard that a fine 19th century négociant's building (with deep cellars) was to be demolished, he raised the money to buy it and took it over shortly before the 2009 harvest.  He now has a marvellous space in which to work, with wonderful deep cellars, and much of the necessary restoration has been completed.  The future of this fabulous source of Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru and Nuits 1er Cru once more seems secure.

Didier Darviot and his wife Genviève (née Perrin) run this important domaine which has brought together the vineyard holdings of two Meursault and Monthélie families.  This has created one of the few domaines to have vines in the three most important 1er Cru vineyards of Meursault: Perrières, Genevrières and Charmes.  In addition to this, they also have vines in Chassagne 1er Cru Blanchots Dessus - Chassagne's only 1er Cru vineyard on the north side of the N6, immediately abutting Le Montrachet, where the ground falls away, and opposite Criots Bâtard Montrachet.  Didier is a winemaker of prodigious talent, and if his administration leads to frustrations (particularly the fact that he makes his wines available for shipment a year or more after most other growers) that seems a price worth paying for such sublime wine making.

A house with a long history and today the largest vineyard owner in Burgundy, Faiveley was founded in 1825 by Pierre Faiveley.  The foundations of its modern success however were laid by Georges Faiveley, who saw the firm through the difficult inter-war years when it was said that a new barrel cost more than the wine which filled it.  His grandson François, handed control over to his own son Erwan – the 7^th generation – in 2005.  A new team was quickly put in place – most significantly perhaps including Bernard Hervé as Managing Director – who supervised the transformation of Bouchard after Joseph Henriot’s purchase, and an extremely talented winemaker, Jérôme Flous.  Faiveley's winery and principle cellars are in Nuits St Georges - the nerve centre of a genuinely world class operation.

One of the oldest established families of Chablis, the Fèvres have been making wine in the region for more than 250 years, and had already established a formidable reputation for this 47 hectare domaine by the time that it was taken over by Joseph Henriot in 1998.  Henriot, from Champagne, had already transformed the fortunes of the great Beaune house of Bouchard Père et Fils and, since 1998, has taken the wines of William Fèvre to even greater renown, thanks to the incredible talents of his winemaker, Didier Séguier.

This outstanding domaine, producing among the very finest white wines of the Côte d’Or, is run by Céline Fontaine with the still very much active involvement of her parents Richard and Laurence – particularly since the birth of her daughter Lison on 2^nd July 2014.  Demand for these wines has become enormously strong in recent vintages, and production of the Grands Crus in particular is always very limited. The domaine produces wines of exceptional richness, finesse, and kaleidoscopic mineral complexity. While Fontaine's stellar reputation is based primarily on the immense quality of his whites, the domaine also produces very lovely reds, which are not only beautifully pure expressions of Pinot Noir but also very attractively priced.

More information can be found on the domaine's website: http://www.domaine-fontaine-gagnard.com/

Since the death of the wonderful Jacques Gagnard in July 2009, this domaine has been run by his widow Marie-Josèphe (daughter of Edmond Delagrange) and their grandson Marc-Antonin Blain.  Over the last fifteen years or so, most of the vineyards have been handed on to their two daughters (Laurence, married to Richard Fontaine; and Claudine, married to Jean-Marc Blain).  However, the domaine continues to produce outstanding, long-lived wines from the approximately 3 hectares it retains.  These include a 1er Cru red Chassagne from vines planted in 1928, the year of Jacques' birth.

This 9 hectare estate, with its cellars in Chassagne Montrachet, is run by Sabine Mollard, grand-daughter of Marc Morey, while her father Bernard retains an overseeing eye.  Along with the Gagnard family (see above) the Morey family dominates the village; Bernard and Sabine have made this the finest of the various Morey estates.  Winemaking is traditional in style, with great emphasis placed on the quality of fruit produced in the vineyard.

After many years making some of the most interesting wines which the Mâconnais has to offer, Jean has found a way of securing his legacy as he approaches retirement.  For the last year, and for one more year to come, he will work alongside Florent Rouve, whom he first met via his involvement with the famous viticultural Lycée de Davayé.  Cuverie and cellar space is being rented from Domaine des Deux Roches in Davayé, and Florent – a great admirer of Jean’s philosophy and techniques – is steadily taking on the Rijckaert mantle.  2013 is the first vintage to be made in the winery in Davayé.  Jean and Florent illustrate how intelligent vineyard management, winemaking and élévage can produce spectacular results from vineyards that more often underperform in the hands of others.

Alexandrine Roy’s great-grandfather founded this small domaine which has been bottling its production since 1982.   Alexandrine took responsibility for it in 2003.  She coaxes wines of the most exceptional quality from her 4 hectares of village vineyards – sadly the domaine has no 1er or Grand Cru holdings, though from 2011 vintage they have some ‘La Justice’ which is another of Gevrey’s finest village sites (along with Clos Prieur).  Alexandrine brings exceptional passion to her winemaking, and everything is done by hand (or, in the case of pressing, by foot!).  This is a source for wines of the most outstanding purity, very much in the Fourrier style for example.

Sauzet is among the greatest of Burgundy's white wine producers.  Gerard Boudot, with his daughter Emilie and son-in-law Benoit Riffault, runs this immaculate operation.  We always think that the hosepipe illustrates the extraordinary precision and attention to detail in the cellar!  The wines are sensational.

A co-operative winery founded by a group of growers in the Mâconnais village of Prissé in 1928 the Cave de Prissé (as it used to be called) has become one of the most successful of its type; since it merged with the co-operatives of the neighbouring villages of Verzé and Sologny, it sources grapes from more than 400 small-scale growers who together own almost 980 hectares of the surrounding vineyards.  Success on this scale is the result of one thing – consistently high quality.