Burgundy

Domaine Armand Rousseau

• Clos Saint-Jacques: intensity within finesse: Rousseau’s Clos Saint-Jacques combines blackcurrant and dark berries with an intense palate and substantial, integrated tannins. The vineyard’s sunny exposure is moderated by cool air from the Combe Lavaux. This premier cru shows that Rousseau’s silky texture can coexist with considerable structure.
• A recognised signature: A pioneer of estate bottling from the 1920s, Rousseau is also recognised by La Revue du vin de France for the consistency of its wines, their silky texture and their delicately spicy notes.
• From bulk sales to bottling: Armand Rousseau initially sold his wines in bulk. Raymond Baudoin, founder of La Revue du vin de France, encouraged him to bottle his best crus for restaurateurs and private customers.
• An emblematic premier cru: “Clos Saint-Jacques” subsequently entered the family’s holdings in the name of his son Charles. It remains a premier cru and has become one of the estate’s emblematic cuvées.

Domaine Michel Lafarge

• A premier cru in the garden: At “Clos du Château des Ducs”, the Lafarge family’s vines lie almost in the house’s garden, where a few hens roam freely. This small clos belongs entirely to the estate and produces a Volnay premier cru.
• Walls that protect the vines: Frédéric emphasises the protection provided by its walls. The technical sheet from their agent Becky Wasserman explains that the walls retain the soil and shelter the vines from wind and frost: this warmer microclimate explains why the clos is often among the first parcels harvested.

Domaine Jean-Marc et Hugues Pavelot

• Gravains: fruit and a firm framework: Aux Gravains gives ripe fruit, an elegant tannic texture and enough structure for around ten years of ageing. It spends a year in barrel, with about a quarter new oak. The domaine recommends it with beef bourguignon, game or other meats in sauce: a structured expression of Savigny premier cru.
• A division that changed the vineyards: For Jean-Marc and Hugues Pavelot, the 2011 vintage changed the estate’s vineyard holdings: a family division required them to give up some vines.
• New premiers crus in Savigny: They then bought vines in “Gravains” and a parcel of “Lavières” in Savigny. These acquisitions explain the changes in their premier cru range after the family division.

Bret Brothers & La Soufrandière

• A nickname becomes a label: Becky Wasserman and Jean-Marie Guffens independently nicknamed Jean-Philippe and Jean-Guillaume the “Bret Brothers”, even before their first négociant vintage. The brothers kept the name.
• Distinguishing estate and négociant wines: Bret Brothers is their négociant business: they buy grapes while still on the vine, then their own team harvests and vinifies them. La Soufrandière is their wine estate. The two labels therefore distinguish the origin of the grapes, even though the same team looks after them.

Maison Joseph Drouhin

• A Beaune house and estate: Founded in Beaune in 1880, Maison Joseph Drouhin combines wine trading with its own vineyards. Its Clos des Mouches produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay: a house can be both a négociant and an estate owner.
• The Oregon venture, 1987: Robert Drouhin and his daughter Véronique, newly graduated in oenology, bought land in Oregon’s Dundee Hills in 1987, extending the Beaune family’s work across the Atlantic.
• Laurène, an Oregon Pinot Noir: Laurène bears the first name of Véronique’s eldest daughter. This American Pinot Noir belongs to the family’s Oregon venture, while Maison Joseph Drouhin’s Burgundy wines retain their own origins.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

• The estate and its namesake grand cru: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti produces several grand crus; Romanée-Conti is the name of one specific vineyard and wine. The Romanée-Conti grand cru covers just 1.814 hectares; the estate reports 4,906 bottles of this cuvée in 2019. This small area and volume give a concrete measure of its rarity.
• Romanée-Conti and La Tâche: Within the same estate, Romanée-Conti emphasises floral delicacy and a velvety texture; La Tâche brings greater vigour and firmer tannins while retaining elegance. This contrast helps distinguish two individual vineyard expressions behind the famous producer name.
• A prince’s private wine: In 1760, the Prince de Conti bought La Romanée and reserved its wine for his own table. The cru would keep his name: behind Romanée-Conti is also the story of a prince’s private wine.
• The last vintage of the old vines: In 1945, Romanée-Conti yielded only around 600 bottles before the old vines were uprooted. A bottle from this harvest reached $558,000, including the buyer’s premium, at Sotheby’s in New York on 13 October 2018.

Domaine Leflaive

• Barrel, then a second winter in tank: Leflaive describes a long maturation for its Côte de Beaune whites: around a year in oak followed by six months in stainless steel. The tank stage brings the separate barrels of an appellation back together before bottling. It is part of the measured cellar work behind the domaine’s precise Puligny style.
• A recognised Puligny style: La Revue du vin de France links Leflaive’s reputation to the pure, precise style of its Puligny-Montrachet whites, from village wines to grands crus.
• Hiring for the long term: When hiring Louis Brière in 2008, Anne-Claude Leflaive told him: “I am hiring you for twenty-five years.”
• Ageing adapted to the vintage: In an interview published in 2025, Louis Brière explains that the team tastes the wines regularly and adapts their ageing to each vintage, without changing methods to follow trends.

Domaine Georges Roumier

• Less than ten ares of Musigny: The Musigny, which La Revue du vin de France lists among the estate’s most sought-after wines, comes from a parcel of less than ten ares: a tiny area that limits the quantity produced.
• Two soils, one Bonnes-Mares: For its Bonnes-Mares, Roumier vinifies grapes from the red soils and white soils separately, then blends the two wines. The estate explains their complementary roles: the red soils bring roundness; the white soils bring spicy and floral notes.

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

• La Romanée: silk with substance: La Romanée is Liger-Belair’s own grand cru monopole, distinct from Romanée-Conti. The 2022 combines red and dark fruit, spice and a silky texture with substantial density beneath it. Decanter’s tasting identifies both early appeal and the capacity to develop over decades.
• A monopole of less than one hectare: The estate holds La Romanée as a monopole, a grand cru of just 0.8452 hectares. This very small area helps explain the limited volumes of this cuvée.
• La Romanée saved at auction: In 1933, the family vineyards were dispersed at auction. Two brothers, Just and Michel Liger-Belair, bought back La Romanée, “Aux Reignots” and “Les Chaumes”: these vineyards thus remained in the family despite the sale of the rest of the holdings.
• A return to family winegrowing: Louis-Michel Liger-Belair re-established an estate in 2000, then took over the cultivation of La Romanée in 2002. The wine returned to being made under the direction of the family that owned the vineyard.

Clos de Tart

• An unbroken vineyard: Founded in 1141 by the Cistercian nuns of Tart Abbey, the clos has never been divided. At Morey-Saint-Denis, this unity has endured for almost nine centuries: a rare continuity in Burgundy.
• The largest grand cru monopole: Its 7.53 hectares enclosed by walls form Burgundy’s largest grand cru monopole. The entire appellation belongs to one owner: a whole vineyard represented by a single estate.
• Four owners in nine centuries: During the Revolution, the Marey-Monge family succeeded the nuns in 1791, then the Mommessin family acquired the clos in 1932. Since April 2018, it has belonged to the Pinault family through Artémis Domaines: four owners across almost nine centuries of history.
• A geological patchwork: The grand cru, 100% Pinot Noir, brings together twelve sectors: more marl at the top, with limestone predominant lower down. Each sector is vinified separately before blending. In the glass, the wine offers power and depth; its tannins soften with bottle age.

Domaine des Comtes Lafon

Burgundy · Meursault

• The clos beside the house: Clos de la Barre adjoins the Comtes Lafon estate in the heart of Meursault. These roughly two hectares are a monopole, meaning a vineyard owned entirely by the family.
• A meursault with its own name: « Clos de la Barre » belongs to the village appellation Meursault. It retains its identity as a place alongside Charmes, Genevrières and Perrières, the premiers crus in the range.
• Rich, citrus-led and supported by acidity: Meursault « Clos de la Barre » shows citrus aromas, a rich texture and clearly present acidity, with a mineral backbone.

Domaine Faiveley

Burgundy · Nuits-Saint-Georges

• Les Porêts Saint-Georges, the first family vineyard: Acquired in the 1870s, Les Porêts Saint-Georges was the Faiveleys’ first vineyard purchase. This Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru combines dark fruit with smoky and oaky touches; its fleshy palate builds in power and structure.
• Clos des Cortons Faiveley, a separate grand cru: At Corton, Clos des Cortons Faiveley is the family’s emblematic red grand cru monopole, entirely under their ownership. A dispute in the 1930s led to the addition of the family name to avoid confusion. This wholly owned Corton clos is distinct from Les Porêts Saint-Georges, the founding purchase in Nuits-Saint-Georges.

Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg

Burgundy · Vosne-Romanée

• Gentle vinification for pinot noir: Mugneret-Gibourg describes its aim as preserving pinot noir’s fruit, freshness and finesse so that each terroir remains legible. Grapes are hand-picked, sorted and fully destemmed, followed by four to five days of cold maceration. The wines mature for eighteen months in oak and are bottled without fining or filtration.
• Vosne-Romanée from several village parcels: The village Vosne-Romanée combines clay-limestone parcels including Les Chalandins, La Colombière and Les Croix Blanches. Blackberry, blueberry and mocha lead into a generous palate of cherry, strawberry and forest floor. The estate suggests enjoying its fruit young or keeping it for up to about ten years, with grilled or roast red meat.
• The family keeps the vineyards together: After Georges Mugneret, ophthalmologist and grower, died in 1988, Marie-Christine left pharmacy to run the estate with her mother Jacqueline. Marie-Andrée joined after studying oenology, continuing the family’s work in Vosne-Romanée.

Domaine Vincent Dauvissat

Burgundy · Chablis

• « Les Clos » reveals itself in the glass: Vincent Dauvissat recommends following his grand cru Les Clos in the glass during the half-hour after opening. This allows the drinker to notice the wine changing rather than judging it on the first nose.
• Two moments to discover it: For Les Clos, the grower recommends tasting before three years or after ten, when the wine gains in harmony. This serving preference helps in choosing between the brilliance of youth and cellar development.
• Density and volume: Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is a dense, powerful and mineral white. Vincent Dauvissat highlights its volume and richness, which can accompany a creamy sauce.

Maison Louis Jadot

Burgundy · Beaune

• The clos is older than the house: The Jadots bought Clos des Ursules in 1826, before establishing their négociant house. This walled parcel remains in the family holdings and bears the Héritiers Louis Jadot signature.
• A clos within a premier cru: Clos des Ursules is part of Les Vignes Franches, a premier cru of Beaune. Its name on the bottle identifies this precise piece of vineyard and one of the house’s emblematic reds.
• A generous, firm pinot: Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Ursules: a generous, firm and rich pinot noir, with red-fruit and earthy aromas, combining elegance and power.