Importer Notes:

I was fortunate to gain introduction to the Domaine through friends in the Paris wine trade, where these wines are becoming sought after in only a short span of time; having only been incepted late in 2019 when Domaine Pierre Naigeon (one of Gevrey’s biodynamic stalwarts) was purchased by Isabelle and Jean-Marie Chapier. Isabelle and Jean-Marie both hail from long careers in the medical industry and are wine fanatics, so much so they have been tinkering with a hobby vineyard/ farm in Bergerac for many years before this acquisition, and now full-time career change fulfilling a life long dream of owning vineyards in the Côte d’Or. In 2020 they began to assemble technical partners to help them on this journey and began with young regional star Julien Millet, formerly of ‘Domaine Comte du Vogue’ in Chambolle-Musigny, where he worked under his esteemed father Francois for six harvests, as well as a handful of other Burgundy domaines to learn more of the regions intricate terroir's and of biodynamic viticulture; ‘Bruno Clavelier’ in Vosne-Romanée, ‘Antonin Guyon’ in Savigny, and ‘Prophets Rock’ in Central Otago (of which his family shares partnership with the Pujol family) as well as works alongside his brother Adrien, (viticulturist at Dom G.Roumier) and father crafting the ‘Maison Francois Millet’ wines. Holding a master’s degree in Oenology and a breadth of experience gained growing up in Burgundian cellars, Julien is a perfect fit for this adventurous new Domaine with 11 ha of certified-organic holdings; spanning the Côte d’Or (7 ha) and up into the Haute-Côtes de Nuits (4 ha), totalling 72 individual parcels, with each fermented and aged individually until Julien has handle on each plots best attributes, some of which will be blended in the future. I was fortunate to spend a few days with Julien, Isabelle and Jean-Marie earlier this year, including seeing their new state of the art winery in Gevrey, and was thoroughly impressed by the attention to detail and efforts being made to achieve quality in all they do. Whilst reds are a big focus of the Domaine, and more Chardonnay plots are set to come online in the future, we will begin with a suite of Aligote’s from up/ down the Côte d’Or of which they produce five at present, each with its own distinct personality. The Aligoté wines all are handled the same; meticulous sorting, gentle pressing to ceramic clayver and stainless for spontaneous primary fermentation with lots of fine solids, before natural MLF's in neutral wood and clayver for 15 months rest. I had intention to bring home just one cuvee but they were so delicious I ended up with three..(for now) Julien sees great potential in Aligoté’s future and there is somewhat of a renaissance toward it regionally amongst winemakers both old and young, thanks to its ability to retain acidity in hot years, of which there has been many recently. More care is being taken through improved viticulture and lower cropping levels, and there is no doubt its future is bright and one that I look forward to following. Jasper Morris MW singing the same sentiments on his recent tour of Australia. As for red vinification, hand harvesting takes place into 6kg collection trays before rigorous sorting pre crush. Everything is then de-stemmed and gravity fed to tank or clayver for spontaneous fermentation. Punch-downs are near non-existent; with daily pump-overs favoured to capture freshness and extract pure skin tannin as best possible. Similarly temperature controlled pre and post primary macerations and long, with Julien a fan of the ‘infusion’ method of soaking for extract before resting in primarily neutral vessels for 12-16 months. Very (very) little new oak is used and reserved only for their top holdings beginning in 2023; ‘Lavaux Saint-Jacques’ 1er cru and ‘Mazis-Chambertin’ Grand cru, at 15% and 20% respectively. The resulting wines are fresh, pure-fruited and built on natural tannins, showing site (and class) above all else…my kinda red Burgundy.