VINUM FINE WINES

Domaine Anne Gros | Domaine Comtes Lafon | Domaine Comte de Vogüé | Domaine Dujac | Domaine Follin Arbelet
Château de Fuissé | Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron | Domaine Rossignol-Trapet | Domaine Sylvie Esmonin
Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair | Heritiers du Comte Lafon | Domaine Leflaive | Domaine Leroy

Domaine Anne Gros

Anne took over the winemaking from her father in 1988. Her wines were labelled Domaine Anne & François Gros, the name of Anne and her father, until 1994. In 1995, the domaine restructured and the bottles were proudly adorned with her own name: Domaine Anne Gros.

Concerned about practising a viticulture that is more respectful of man, vine and terroir, Anne Gros has taken a keen interest in biodynamic and organic viticulture. Though she believes this philosophy of cultivation is vital for the preservation of the terroir's biodiversity, she refuses to categorize or label the domaine as such. Her work in the vineyard consists especially of deliberate treatments (rational) according to need, ploughing the soil and using compost.

Tasting in the immaculate cellars is a real joy; her wines are richly fruited and dense, yet with great precision and finesse.

Domaine Comtes Lafon

This estate came into being with the marriage in 1894 of Jules Lafon to Marie Boch, from a family of wine merchants and estate owners in Meursault. Jules Lafon was responsible for shaping the estate as it is today; parts of the Boch inheritance were sold off or exchanged, and a formidable collection of vineyards was established.

In 1918 the Holy See conferred the title of Papal Count upon Jules Lafon in recognition of his refusal during his time as Inspector at the Public Registry Office to compel clerics to disclose their wealth. Jules Lafon was appointed Mayor of Meursault, and whilst holding this post, founded the Paulée de Meursault, a celebration at the end of harvest that has now become one of the Trois Glorieuses.

Following his death in 1940, the estate passed to his sons, Pierre and Henri. Pierre died only 4 years later, and Henri wanted to sell the estate. Henri’s son, Réné disagreed and set about rejuvenating the estate when he finally took over in 1956, with extensive replanting, and the introduction by 1961 of full estate bottling.

Dominique Lafon, Réné’s son took over the estate in 1984, and did not renew the share-cropping agreements that had been a feature of the estate for decades. As a result, the entire production of the domaine was under the control and ownership of the domaine itself. In 1998, after 3 years of trials, the estate decided to convert to biodynamism.

The wines here always demonstrate a remarkable richness and density, allied with brightness and vivacity. The depth and persistence of these wines can be breathtaking.

The 13.80 hectares of the estate are distributed throughout 5 villages and produce 13 appellations:

Domaine Comte de Vogüé

The imposing house of this legendary domaine dates from the 15th Century, and the domaine has stayed within the same family since. François Millet, the winemaker, has a deep affinity with the wines, and talks in almost poetic turns of phrase. No wonder, then that he can produce some of the most sensual, finely-textured and spiritual wines in Burgundy.

The de Vogüé Chambolle Village wine come mainly from a 1.8 hectares plot in the climat of Les Porlottes, close to the wood on the western side of the commune, with a typical production of a little over 400 cases. The soil here covers a bed of limestone and contains many small rocks. The vines have an average age of just under 30 years. The Domaine also owns small sections totaling 0.34 ha in the Chambolle 1er Crus of Les Baudes (average 54 year-old vines) and Les Fuées whose vines average 45 years. Rather than vinify these separately, they effectively declassify the resulting 1er Cru wines by choosing to blend into their single village cuvée.

Domaine Dujac

Jacques Seysses, owner & winemaker of Domaine Dujac, made his first vintage in 1968. He advocated research into clonal selection that were used during a replanting program between 1978 and 1983 that created six different clones just for Clos-de-la-Roche and revivified the virtually extinct Clone 123 whose virtue is its small berries.

Production from the Domaine has gradually increased from 5 hectares to its present size of 15 hectares; fairly large for Burgundy. The grapes are vinified without destemming that engenders paler wines, but allows the stems to act as an anti-oxidant and prolong the fermentation to produce more complex wine (a practice used by his close friend Aubert de Villaine at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.)

In 2000, Jacques Seysses and his son, Jeremy, launched a négociant wine under the label, Dujac Fils et Père, purchasing wines from other growers. Both the Domaine and negociant wines show great consistency and purity.

Domaine Follin Arbelet

The Arbelet family has long been important vineyard owners in Aloxe-Corton since the 19th century, during which they owned prime sites on the hill of Corton. Franck Follin, currently in charge of the estate, is the first member of the family to be fully involved in complete modus operandi of working with vines to bottling process and has directed the 6-hectare estate since 1993.

The domaine produces wine from an array of 9 appellations (one white and eight red). Highly meticulous, Franck is an absolute purist when it comes to viticulture aspects. He works the vineyards 100% manually and organically, without any use of herbicides or pesticides. A traditionalist, he embraces the notion of terroir and respects nature to best express itself for every harvest.

Frank is a gentle, affable man, whose wines are grounded and restrained. The Aloxes and Pernands showed juicy red fruits, even spiciness, whilst the Grands Crus were beautifully scented despite their muscularity. These are wines that delight with discretion.

Château de Fuissé

This 30-hectare estate, concentrated mainly in Pouilly-Fuissé was purchased in 1862 by the current family. It is an ancient estate, with the château’s tower featured on the labels dating from the 15th Century, alongside the 100 year-old yew trees. Some 5 generations later, the current winemaker is Antoine Vincent, son of the famous Jean-Jacques Vincent. His sister, Bénédicte manages the administration with her husband Philip Tuinder, who worked for 10 years at Domaine Leflaive. These are wines of succulence, substance and structure.

The wines include La Tête de Cru, a blend from 20 vineyards, with an average age of 30 years, a Vieilles Vignes blend from vines aged from 40 to 60 years old and three single vineyard monopole bottlings; Les Combettes produces pure, mineral wines of delicacy. Les Brûlés, close to the village of Fuissé, with a mainly clay soil mixed with limestone, produces a wine of muscular power. Le Clos, enclosed by a stone wall, lies right next to the château, with a more equal balance of limestone and clay, giving structured, rich, deeply flavoured wine.

Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron

In 1988, Alain and Sophie Meunier took over the domaine at Premeaux-Prissey close to Nuits-Saint-Georges, which had previously belonged to Sophie’s father. They had begun work with the principal that all wines should begin with the vines. Shortly after, Alain took a viticulture course at the Young Winegrowers Group in Beaune.

Alain maintains and employs traditional techniques; although adopting modern equipment that enables him to control the fermentation and maturation with more precision. There is a large range of wines produced here, and one always needs time to taste through the whole range during a visit to the cellars. Happily, the wines are always very enjoyable, richly-fruited and silky in texture.

Domaine Rossignol-Trapet

Rossignol-Trapet has been run by brothers David and Nicolas since 1990 and the domaine owns excellent sites in vineyards not only in Gevrey Chambertin but also in the communes of Beaune and Savigny-Les-Beaune.

The set-up is one common amongst quality-conscious producers; high density plantings at 11,000 to 12,500 vines per hectare, de-budding and green harvesting to manage yields and endless work in the vineyards. Only the Grand Crus were managed biodynamically at first, but this had extended to the whole estate by 2004. The wines here effortlessly achieve an insistent, multi-layered character, modern and brightly fruited.

Domaine Sylvie Esmonin

A small estate of 7 hectares run by Sylvie Esmonin, one of a handful of leading female producers in the Cote d'Or. Until several years ago, this estate was known as Domaine Michel Esmonin et Fille.

The cellars are located at the foot of the renown Premier Cru Clos St Jacques vineyard at the top of the village of Gevrey Chambertin. The Bourgogne rouge, Gevrey Chambertin and Clos St Jacques vineyards lie in the parish of Gevrey, mainly on south-east facing slopes. The Côtes de Nuits Villages parcels are in Brochon, just north of Gevrey Chambertin, and the Bourgogne Chardonnay in Meursault. The soil varies considerably according to the different appellations but is basically calcareous clay.

Sylvie is always a delight to visit; intensely passionate and articulate, characters that show through into her wines. They have that Gevrey firmness, but with a finely textured, feminine touch; floral, elegant, and with measure.

Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair

This long standing family business began with the establishment of C.Marey and Comte Liger-Belair in 1720 at Nuits Saint-Georges. They once owned majestic holdings of 40 hectares including the famed sites of La Romanee and La Tache.

In 2001, Thibault Liger-Belair set up this eponymous domaine to exploit his share of the family’s historic vineyards, 7.25 hectares distributed over 5 communes. He then creates simultaneously the wine merchant company, Thibault Liger-Belair Successeurs.

A bubbly, pragmatic man with a cheerful smile, Thibault proclaimed he should be doing just what is necessary and his main aim is to produce crus of great purity, without artificial means or excessive extraction. Since the 2005 vintage, Thibault has successfully employed bio-dynamic treatment for all his 100% owned vineyard parcels.

Heritiers du Comte Lafon
By Domaine Comte Lafon

Dominique Lafon, of the legendary Meursault producer Domaine Comte Lafon, identified ideal terroir for growing Chardonnay in the underrated vineyards of the Maconnais. He created a new winery, Les Heritiers du Comte Lafon, in 1999. This wine has proved to be hugely successful, selling out in every market, and we are pleased to be able to offer them. The cultivation is entirely biodynamic and the average production for each of these vineyards varies from 1,000 to 3,000 cases per year.

Each of his wines reflects a different expression of its soil, ranging from the easy-going Macon Villages through fragrant, honeyed Macon Milly-Lamartine, Macon-Chardonnay Clos de la Crochette, Macon Uchizy en Maranches to the dense, concentrated Macon Bussières.

Domaine Leflaive

Domaine Leflaive is the undoubtedly the most refined and elegant Puligny-Montrachet domaine in Burgundy. Anne-Claude Leflaive became co-owner of this famous Puligny domaine in 1990. In 1997, Anne-Claude Leflaive committed the domaine to biodynamism. Today, the domaine has seen a much stronger, healthier fruit than ever, which produces fine and pure Chardonnay with great finesse & longevity.

The domaine owns 10 hectares of Premiers Crus and no fewer than 5 hectares of Grands Crus. The wines are aged for 12 months in 25% new oak and are then transferred to steel tanks where they are allowed to clarify naturally over the second winter. The domaine's latest 9 hectares of Macon Verzé was produced in 2004 as its first vintage following the similar biodynamic practice.

The wines at every level show profound minerality and precision.

Domaine Leroy

The Leroy enterprise has two distinct strands – Domaine Leroy and the negociant, Maison Leroy.

Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy started out as a negociant, working for Maison Leroy, which was founded by her father, Henri, in Auxey-Duresses. In the late 1980s, one-third of Maison Leroy was sold to Takashimaya, the Japanese retail group. Madame Bize-Leroy used the proceeds to purchase, with partners, the vineyards and winery of Domaine Noëllat in Vosne-Romanee and renamed it Domaine Leroy.

Domaine Leroy has practicised biodynamism since 1989. Set across 26 appellations, it now comprises more than 22 hectares of some of the Cote d'Or's finest vineyards and has under its name, 9 Grand Crus, 8 Premier Crus and 8 Village Wines. These wines have astonishing density and concentration.

The Maison Leroy wines make up an enormous library, of stock released only when the wines have reached their peak, often decades after the vintage.