When you meet Sebastien Gay, you are instantly charmed. A soft spoken youth, Sebastien is forever breaking into an infectious smile. His cheeks light up and then you realize the smile stems from his embarrassment at receiving all the well deserved praise being heaped upon him. Sebastien has ample reason to grin from ear to ear. The wines embody his humble demeanor, drawing you in and capturing your attention with their unsullied, vibrant character.

Sebastien's manner suggests the same qualities as his wines: he is thoughtful and earnest, with a purity of soul that is no less than a looking glass into the land from which he sprouted (much the same as the old vines that make up his vineyards). These wines are intimate and alluring, passionate but not aggressive. They pointedly volunteer their terroir in the same voice through which Sebastien declares his regional pride.

Sebastien is a fifth generation vigneron, but has written enough history at the Domaine to last the next five. The Domaine started outright under Sebastien's father Michel in 1992 with 6.5 hectare of vineyards. Between 1992 and 2004 small parcels were purchased, and in 1996 a new winery was built. The domaine is now 9.5 hectares. The holdings are a wonderful collage of the terroirs of the Cote-de-Beaune: the Chorey with its vibrant fruit and sensual character, Aloxe-Corton showing deep mineral and iron ore, a lacey and floral Serpentieres 1er cru from Savigny, and a peek into the very hillsides of Beaune itself with a collection of 1er crus that compete and complement each other like a band of brothers. Sebastien farms these vineyards organically, following the belief that great wines are made in the vineyard as opposed to the winery.

The 40-60+ years old parcels are tended by hand, pruned and undergo multiple green harvests to coax the old vines to concentrate their energy on the select few clusters that remain. Hand harvested, the bunches are sorted out on a conveyer belt before going into fermentation and then transferred to oak barrels for their malolactic fermentation. Only 30% new oak is used—after 18 months the wines are bottled without filtration.