This narrow hillside ridge, that goes from the south of Dijon to the south of Beaune, gathered on around fourty kilometers, the quintessence of the wide area of Burgundy region.
But, if the Côte de Nuits is so famous for its mythical red wines (Romanée Conti, Musigny, Chambertin a.s.o…) also reputed is the Côte de Beaune for its white wines (Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Meursault, Puligny a.s.o…) upon which everybody says they are the best in the world.
And the genius of the Burgundian mosaic has been to record how different may be two wines just separated by a tiny path. Area of micro faults, as well as subsidence plain, Burgundy is so unique that, from approximatively one thousand years, the monks who were the first farmers, have perfectly delimitated the quality of each plot of land, just like if they could see the internal structure of the subsoil !
But, after the genius of the earth itself, it was necessary that the genius of men would be present to magnify such a variable grape like Pinot Noir, or as subtle as Chardonnay can be.
I have a close and often friendly relation with all the winemakers that I present here, and they are a great part of the top French winemakers. It is an honour for me, to offer year after year, their wines to my customers, and the trustworthy relation we have is comparable to the admiration we all have for them.
He is, for Burgundy, what alexandria was for Egypt...a lighthouse supposed to guide those who could be lost. The purity of the fruit one can find in his wines recalls the one from the late henri JAYER. Nothing artificial, just simplicity and truth. One can never forget his wines once drunk.
From the ordinary Bourgogne to the mythical GRIOTTE CHAMBERTIN
This "grand cru" from MOMMESSIN is resurrected since its management has been given to this so talented and intelligent man that is Sylvain PITIOT.
In only a handful of years, he raised this grand cru to the level he would never have left, the highest one !
Strict selections made among this 7,5 hectares enclosed field to keep only the best parcels, an intelligent blend of the different soils that make it, and you have a prodigious result.
One of the headlight in Burgundy, and from a long time.
Since it has been taken in new hands in 1988, with a new management team, for the cultural methods, as well as vinification, it is on the top of the list for Burgundian domains.
One must say that the range of wines here, is exceptional...
I can propose the whole range of wines, from the "simple" CHAMBOLLE MUSIGNY till the remarkable MUSIGNY "Old Vines"
Very few are the domains to have a similar reputation in achieving white AND red wines. But that's the case here ! If the MEURSAULT produced here are so famous for their viscosity and the remarkable capacity for aging, the red wines from VOLNAY are, along with those from Domaine Michel LAFARGE, a kind of reference.
And this is not due to the recent conversion of the viticultural technique in "Biodynamie" which justifies it, but essentially the attention given to every "cuvée", from the noblest to the humblest.
Since a few years, the domain has acquired vines in the Maconnais, and produces several "cuvées" which lineage with the great white wines of the historical domain is quite evident.
" AS LONG AS MEN WILL TRY TO CORRECT NATURE, INSTEAD OF LISTENING, FOLLOW AND HELP IT, THEY WILL BE MISGUIDED"
Making his that dictum from Chevalier de BOISDEFFRE, Louis-Michel LIGER-BELAIR has signed a statement of belief. Taking in charge a domain with a prestigious past, and try to resurrect it was an incredible challenge.
But he has a sturdy character, an undefectible will, and his intelligence slung over the shoulder.
Within a few years, he succeeded to climb very high in the hierarchy of the greatest Burgundian domains, and also restore with an exceptional brilliance, the reputation of LA ROMANEE, neighbour of its fabulous cousin.
Pleasure and refinement are the master-words that seem to act as guides the actions as well as the gests, and the result of it is exceptional for me.
Present since the vintage 2000, I could see the constant progresses since the vines have been taken in hand, when they were previously given for tenant farming, and I could also measure Louis-Michel LIGER BELAIR vinification's talents.
He is destined for a brilliant future, and Burgundy has, with him, one of his most promising banner bearer !
Here is another world-famous family domaine "par excellence" (in every sense of the word) .
After Georges and Jean-Marie, it is now Christophe ROUMIER who manages this familial enterprise, brilliantly assisted by his sister, Delphine.
The wines are always full of delicacy, fresh, with a brilliant fruit, and I am not speaking about their ability for ageing wonderfully, whatever the vintage can be.
The counterpart of that incredible success: it is very difficult to obtain the whole range of their wines, but we can't forget those we have drunk !
Their BONNES MARES are THE reference for that appellation.
Frédéric MUGNIER has lived several lives in just one, and he has not finished ! After being successively engineer on oil rigs, jet pilot on regular lines, he finally decided to profit of the exceptional patrimony left by his father, taking progressively in charge the domain.
His philosophy stands in one single word: PLEASURE
That's what he tries to transmit in the wines he achieves, since he doesn't look for extraction, colour or other technical parameters. He just wants to give pleasure !
And he succeeds marvelously, since his wines have the charm and the sensuality of the eternal Burgundian ones
This is THE domain "par excellence", the ultimate reference that has beaten the time, and for many years. A piece of the French patrimony, which justified that the French Government has opposed to its buyout by a foreign group in the eighties.
It has forged a great part of the Burgundy legend, for its wines of course, as well as for its high colour history.
Aubert de VILLAINE, being now in charge of the domain, is quite in the most perfect tradition of excellence and respect for the jewels he is in charge of, and made here.
Drinking just one bottle among the Grands Crus is a memory unforgettable by any taster.
A very long tradition of quality and longevity surrounds the wines from this domain, one of the most prestigious in Burgundy. The mineral purity and the capacity for a very long cellaring witness an outstanding know how.
Cultivated in "biodynamie" since 1997, the Domaine LEFLAIVE, masterly managed by Anne-Claude, seduces more and more the French and international clients .
This domain keeps on being THE reference in Puligny, since ever !