2001 Chambolle-Musigny, Premier Cru, Les Amoureuses, Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier (and lashings of Beaujolais) – chosen by Daniel Johnnes, Wine Director of The Dinex Group and Founder of La Paulée, La Fête du Champagne, La Tablée and Pressoir  “This holiday I plan on opening several bottles of great wine. Great doesn't necessarily mean expensive or rare. I'll be sure to drink plenty of Beaujolais and mostly from my favorite producers, Morgon from Marcel Lapierre, Fleurie from Jean-Louis Dutraive and Chiroubles from Domaine Thillardon. As much as they are "drink everyday" wines, they also have the magic power of putting a smile on everyone's face.  “Yet, for that really special wine, I plan on opening a bottle of Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Amoureuses 2001 from Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier. Chambolle-Musigny is among my favorite villages in Burgundy and the Amoureuses vineyard could easily make a case to be classified as Grand Cru. It combines the perfume, texture, elegance and persistence typical of the very best red Burgundy. The style of Domaine Mugnier is one of refinement and grace. And with 20-plus years’ age, it should be perfect for drinking now. Even though it will accompany a roast chicken, this wine is like a celebration and a meal in and of itself.”  2018 Klein Constantia Vin de Constance – chosen by Jeffrey Koren, Head of Wine at Marceline, London  “While it’s easy to open a perfunctory bottle of Port or Sauternes at the end of a Christmas meal, the oh-so-delicious Vin de Constance by Klein Constantia has become my go-to sweet wine for the festive period over the past few years. Steeped in history, Vin de Constance was famously a favourite of Napoleon and lauded by authors like Jane Austen and Baudelaire. These days, winemaker Matt Day has revived this legendary dessert wine to its former acclaim. It always offers wonderful notes of apricot, honey and spice. But most importantly, it’s balanced by refreshing acidity that is an absolute necessity after an indulgent holiday meal.”  Hauller Frères Pinot Gris La Chappelle Signature – chosen by Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse, Ch. Beauséjour   “Ludovic Hauller is a long-standing friend I met during my studies in Burgundy. I appreciate the precision that his family channels into the wines, and this cuvée showcases great finesse, with freshness and elegance, mirroring the granite terroir in which the vines grow. It’s a Pinot Gris of remarkable complexity, hailing from a plot that sits below the Chapelle Saint-Sébastien de Dambach-la-Ville. Ludovic introduced me to Alsatian wines, which I knew little of previously, and I love this cuvée. As for when, this is definitely the kind of bottle I would open in the days following Christmas, with my family, playing board games by the fire and putting the world to rights, patiently waiting for the New Year!”  2002 Champagne Salon, Giuseppe Mascarello’s 2017 Barolo Villero, Tiberio’s 2018 Colle Vota – chosen by Lorenza Sebasti, Castello di Ama  “As usual, this Christmas we will open a magnum of 2002 Champagne Salon. I remember we had the chance to buy a few magnums a long time ago as they were precisely the birth years of our children (1997, 1999 and 2002). Then I guess I will spoil everyone at home with a beautiful Barolo Giuseppe Mascarello Villero 2017 and Colle Vota Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2018 from my dear friend Cristiana Tiberio. She makes very few bottles of this very elegant and vibrant wine, which is among my favourite reds.”  2021 La Morandina Moscato d’Asti – chosen by Donald Edwards, Head Sommelier at La Trompette, London  “Beyond the best white Burgundy I can lay my grubby mits on, I’ll be cracking the second bottle on a case of La Morandina’s 2021 Moscato d’Asti – part of a new festive tradition. Back when my wine appreciation was still protean, I heard a rumour that Moscato d’Asti – the sweet fizzy floral stuff that we sold in my Glasgow Oddbins – ages magnificently. Twenty or so years later, I’m the Head Sommelier at La Trompette, hosting a big Piedmont-themed wine lunch. Barolos and Barbarescos aplenty litter the room, but the wine that stops me in my tracks? A 2013 Moscato d’Asti from Giuseppe Vajra. It was phenomenal, still gleefully tasty, but now with a touch of extra weight, more waxy lime skin and late-evening summer flowers, heady in its bouquet. Here she was, my white whale, and, boy, she didn’t disappoint.  “Last December, visiting La Morandina in Asti, I asked whether they had anything with a bit of age and lo! a 15-year-old magnum appeared. My stars had aligned for a second time – the wine equally lovely, offering a bit more exotic spice, cardamom and coriander seed along with the sweet creamy lime zest. Crucially, this time I could see the germ of a plan. Each year, I would buy a cast of Moscato d’Asti, building a reserve of Moscato to steadily enjoy over the coming years. I’ll be the Christmas king of deliciously sweet floral fizz. So, on the morning of 25th, I’ll be twisting the top off the second bottle from last year’s case and smugly enjoying my Moscato and crumpet as I let my mind wander over the riches I’m preparing for the coming years.”  François Cotat Sancerre Le Mont Damné and Massican Gemina – chosen by Alex Sarovich, Founder and CEO of Own Rooted Hospitality  "As the oldest of five in a large Italian family, I've learned that selecting the perfect wine is an art form that requires careful consideration of both the food and the audience. When I'm hanging out with my twin 24-year-old brothers, they're all about vibrant, crisp wines like Champagne or Sancerre. If I can get my hands on it, I love surprising them with a bottle of Cotat’s Le Mont Damné, a truly exceptional wine that never fails to impress.  “In contrast, when I'm with my mom and aunt, we lean into our Italian roots. White wines from Italy are a staple in our household, especially when we're in the kitchen, cooking and preparing a meal together. This year, I'm planning to bring a bottle of Massican Gemina to our holiday gathering in McMinnville. This beautiful white blend, composed of Greco, Falanghina, and Fiano grapes from top California vineyards, perfectly captures the essence of our family's wine appreciation – a nod to our Italian heritage with a California twist.”  Coche-Dury Meursault, Domaine de Trévallon and Jean-Michel Gérin Côte-Rôtie La Landonne – chosen by Philippe Abadie of Alvina Pernot  “First of all, we decided to open a bottle of 2022 Meursault from Domaine Coche-Dury, given to us by a client to celebrate the birth of our son Pâris, who was born on January 1st 2022. We also really like the new style introduced by Raphaël since he took over this magnificent estate. Then Trévallon: my grandfather Georges from the south of France was an unconditional fan of the estate, and during my childhood there was always a bottle on festive tables (for birthdays, Christmas, New Year, etc) – so this will be a little wink to him. Then last, a bottle of Côte-Rôtie La Landonne by Jean-Michel Gérin. The story goes back to a few weeks after I first met Alvina, for this is the bottle of red we drank on our first restaurant date.”  2022 Domaine Yui A Rouge – chosen by Carlito Chiu, Wine Director at Andō, Hong Kong  “Established in 2019 by the dynamic husband-and-wife duo Tetsuya and Aya Sugiyama, Domaine Yui is a Japanese winery with a profound mission of unity and togetherness. Inspired by the meaning of the Japanese word “yui”, “to connect/link”, the Sugiyamas are dedicated to bringing people together through their shared love for wine and agriculture. Their A Rouge is a remarkable expression of Burgundy-style red wine crafted in Hokkaido, Japan – a specific blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris that showcases the region’s terroir. It is particularly special to me because it embodies the innovative spirit of Japanese winemaking, while honouring traditional techniques. For me, this wine represents the potential of Japanese terroir and the dedication of winemakers committed to producing world-class wines, making it a wonderful choice for celebrating the joy and warmth of the Christmas season.”  Read more Editorial

As friends and family gather together over Christmas, it’s the perfect time to pull the cork on something special. Here, some of the wine world’s biggest names – with leading sommeliers and top winemakers – to tell us what they’re cracking open this year, and why

Insight on what the wine world’s most famous names – sommeliers and star winemakers – are drinking over Christmas, from Salon Champagne to Vin de Constance 

What the wine world is drinking this Christmas

What those in the industry are drinking this Christmas

Burgundy is a mecca for lovers of fine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but, with its litany of producers and vineyards, it can be a tricky region to get to grips with. Here we offer an essential guide to the region – breaking down everything from how vineyards are classified to producers to look out for

Discover everything you need to know about Burgundy: from vineyards and producers to the difference between négociant and domaine or what a Grand Cru is

Your essential guide to Burgundy wine

Your essential guide to Burgundy

2019 BOURGOGNE BLANC, DOMAINE DE MONTILLE The specific clones of Chardonnay used in De Montille’s Bourgogne Blanc make it particularly special. Most Bourgogne Blanc is made with higher-yielding clones which have a tendency towards dilution; but De Montille’s Bourgogne Blanc comes from a single site that borders Puligny-Montrachet, planted exclusively with low-yielding clones. This shines through with impressive density on the palate. The wine retains that mineral-edged De Montille style, fleshed out with pear and juicy white melon fruit. 2019 CORTON-CHARLEMAGNE, GRAND CRU, HENRI BOILLOT While not exactly cheap, the Boillot wines still offer great value – competing happily with the likes of Leflaive, Coche-Dury and Ramonet. In 2019, their wines really shine – balancing the concentration of fruit with thrilling acidity. Their Corton-Charlemagne is extraordinary – the power of this site instantly in evidence. The wine is a coil of minerality and citrus, poised and wound tightly. There’s a smokiness to the nose, with a struck-match intensity countered by what feels like a tsunami of fruit – lime, green apple and white peach. Mouth-filling and rich, expansive yet zesty, the acidity drives an astonishingly long finish. Muscular, poised, razor-sharp and full of potential. 2019 CHABLIS, GRAND CRU, LES CLOS, REMOISSENET PÈRE & FILS Remoissenet has friends in high places – and although we can’t say who, one of the region’s most respected and collected producers sources their Chablis. Their wines are – unusually for Chablis – 100% barrel-fermented, producing texturally rich, powerful wine that cleverly never loses its sense of place. In 2019, this opulent style has never suited the vintage better. The nose of Les Clos is very pure with fine, subtle florals. Notes of comice pear, crystallised lemon rind and dried citrus fruit oscillate with the rounded, rich and creamy texture of the wine. The oak is layered over a very pure core of fruit, with a classic sunny Les Clos typicity. On the finish, the wine tightens up nicely and ends with real mineral focus and salinity. Superb. 2019 SANTENAY, BIEVAUX, ALVINA PERNOT The Bievaux vineyard belongs to Alvina’s grandfather Paul Pernot and has long been the family’s favoured site for Pinot Noir. High up on the hill and directly south-facing, the vineyard benefits from ideal sun exposure and cooling diurnal influences, producing a wine with lovely texture and balance. The tannins are fully resolved but the wine has energy and spark too. These 40-year-old vines produced a fantastically juicy, moreish wine in 2019 (at a great price).  2019 CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY, DOMAINE HUDELOT-NOËLLAT Charles van Canneyt only made 25 barrels of his village Chambolle this year, versus the normal 40 – which is a particular shame given the quality. It’s a blend of 11 parcels from all around the appellation, to give a true “village” wine. He opted for no punch-downs in 2019, as the skins gave up their colour and tannins so quickly. The resulting wine is surprisingly dark and intense in style, such is the concentration of the year. Nevertheless the wine has a real crunch of red fruit, with amazing acidity and elegant tannins.  2019 GIVRY, PREMIER CRU, CLOS DE LA SERVOISINE, DOMAINE JOBLOT We could have put any of Joblot’s wines in this list – such is the value offered by this superb Givry producer. This south-facing plot is next door to Cellier aux Moines – which Joblot also works with, and tasting the two alongside each other is a treat, with such contrasting styles. This is the brighter of the two, with more lift and perfume on the nose, but the palate reveals darker and more savoury depths. Concentrated bramble fruit is framed by chalky tannins and vibrant acidity. Delicious. 2019 MERCUREY, PREMIER CRU, LE CLOS DU ROY, DOMAINE FAIVELEY The Faiveley family (now in its seventh generation) is today France’s 35th richest family – but it was railway technology, rather than wine, that made their fortune. It means that winemaking for the domaine these days is a purely qualitative affair, with a no-expense-spared approach taken with all their wines. This really is a winwin for the drinker. Being the largest producer in the Cote Chalonnaise, their Mercurey Premier Cru Le Clos du Roy is not only exceptionally made, it is also extremely well-priced. In 2019, this wine has captured the dynamism in the best examples of the vintage, full of energy with lovely crunchy red berry fruit and a sapid salinity on a long finish. Incredible quality for the appellation.  2019 SAVIGNY-LÈS-BEAUNE, PREMIER CRU, LA DOMINODE, DOMAINE JEAN-MARC & HUGUES PAVELOT Hugues Pavelot has crafted a wonderful range in 2019 – toning down extraction given the ripeness, and turning up the whole-bunch to add freshness (with between 15 to 30% on the Premiers Crus). La Dominode was a star of the tasting, however. It manages to effortlessly combine a subtle, chalky grip with a silk-like mouth-feel. The fruit is ripe, smooth and lush but also crunchy and bright – a mouthful of crushed raspberries and blueberries with a burst of redcurrant acidity rushing through the palate. There’s a mineral freshness to this full yet fine wine. Lovely. 2019 VOUGEOT, PREMIER CRU, LES PETITS VOUGEOTS,  DOMAINE HUDELOT-NOËLLAT Charles van Canneyt has 0.5 hectares of this Premier Cru, sandwiched between Clos de la Perrière and Le Clos Blanc. It’s one to watch – and a site that Charles thinks is benefiting from global warming, thanks to its limestone soils. In 2019 the wine is dark, rich and intense but with bright, sweet berry fruit that also has a vibrant crunch to it. Refreshing acidity balances the plush, dark cherry fruit on the palate, while delicate notes of violet florals and black tea fill the finish.  2019 CHEMIN DES MOINES DE VERGY, DOMAINE GROS FRÈRE & SOEUR, VIN DE FRANCE This is only the third vintage of this delicious curiosity from Gros Frère & Soeur. Planted in 2014 and 2015, this plot sits at the top of the Côte, beyond the borders of the Burgundy appellation (hence its Vin de France status) and at high altitude. Overlooking the Grands Crus of Vosne-Romanée, the vines are trained high – with a full 2.5 metres’ worth of canopy to capture as much sunshine as possible at these cool and dizzy heights. The resulting wine is supple, soft and bright, with crunchy sour cherry and redcurrant fruit. Light and fresh, with a long finish of vibrant acidity, it’s a fun addition to the range – and one that will be interesting to follow in the coming years as temperatures continue to rise. 2019 VOLNAY, PREMIER CRU, DOMAINE GEORGES LIGNIER The Lignier family line runs through Benoît Stelhy’s mother’s side, but his father’s side also as vines, with 46 acres in Volnay and 12 in Pommard. They’re old vines and he buys the grapes in, although works closely to manage the vineyards in the same way as his own, with grass cover all year. He picks the fruit himself though with family and friends helping – “It’s a little bit like we go on holiday,” he tells us, travelling down to the Côte de Beaune to harvest, normally on a Sunday morning. His Premier Cru Volnay was a treat to taste – pretty and perfumed, it’s laden with bright, crunchy red berries, but there’s a mineral line that lends finesse. Dainty, fine and truly delicious. 2019 MOREY-SAINT-DENIS, PREMIER CRU, CLOS SORBÉ, DOMAINE HENRI & PHILLIPE JOUAN Philippe Jouan’s wines certainly fly under the radar – and with the current quantities produced, this is unlikely to change anytime soon (with just three hectares in total). However, the little wine produced here is an honest rendition of some exceptional terroir in the Côte de Nuits – and, with the 2019 vintage, the wines have never tasted better. Our pick of the range was his MoreySaint-Denis Premier Cru Clos Sorbé, one of the top Premier Cru sites in Morey. The wine is wonderfully intense with an expressive, complex nose of lavender, rosebush and incense, while the palate is ripe and juicy with sun-kissed wild blackberry and blueberry fruit. 2019 CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY, PREMIER CRU, LES CHABIOTS, ALBERT BICHOT Les Chabiots sits above Les Amoureuses – pedigree that seems to escape most people. It’s singing again in 2019, a delicate and fine-boned wine with a nose full of violets. But don’t let its prettiness deceive you, there’s plenty of power to back it up – with a core of raspberry and bright red cherry fruit, supported by a backbone of minerality. The tannins are seamless, the acidity fine and long. Tight and taut, this is outstanding. Browse all Burgundy or explore more Editorial

The wines that really overperformed in the 2019 Burgundy vintage. We think offer the best bang-for-buck this year – from Bourgogne Rouge to Grand Cru Chablis

Exploring 2019 Burgundy that overperformed, including Hugues Pavelot Savigny, De Montille’s Bourgogne Blanc, Corton-Charlemagne Boillot and more

Burgundy 2019 top-value wine buys

Burgundy 2019: top-value buys

Second wines are no longer à la mode. In Bordeaux, these junior siblings – traditionally made with declassified fruit from the Grand Vin – are being rebranded as alternate expressions of a château. While this has fast become a familiar trope among the region’s master marketeers (who wants to suggest that anything is lesser?), for the Guinaudeau family of Ch. Lafleur the idea has become a fundamental part of their philosophy.  “A new cuvée, a new label – that’s marketing,” says Omri Ram – the man at the helm of the Guinaudeau estates today. For the family (who are mentioned repeatedly in our conversation, their involvement and influence is much more than monetary), any new wines must be a new Cru. Literally meaning a “growth”, the term doesn’t translate particularly well, but it’s a wine that should be “from viticulture, terroir, ideology”, Ram says. The inspiration is Burgundy rather than Bordeaux, comparing to Amoureuses or Malconsorts, a site that offers a distinct expression, year in, year out. “A special cuvée that costs 300 bucks – no, thank you,” he laughs. It hasn’t always been the approach at Ch. Lafleur – or more accurately, the “Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur" (the name that encompasses all the Guinaudeau estates). Les Pensées was originally conceived as a second wine, used to ensure the consistency and top quality of the Grand Vin, primarily made with fruit from young vines. But that all shifted in 2000, when they decided to separate out a diagonal 0.7-hectare valley, a strip of clay within the otherwise gravel-dominated Lafleur vineyard. The concept was – and is – to take the same core DNA of Lafleur, their old-vine material – and translate it through the lens of different terroirs. Les Pensées was their first step towards this, but in the early 2000s the Guinaudeau family started thinking about another expression of Lafleur – one on limestone. Little did they know that it would take almost 20 years for this idea to come to fruition.  And so they started looking for a limestone site. But Pomerol is the only place on the Right Bank with absolutely no limestone, and a plot on Saint-Emilion’s plateau (the obvious choice for prime limestone terroir) was a pipedream. In the unlikely scenario that a plot came up for sale, the price would be astronomical (the buyer would, in Ram’s words, need to have “big, big, big, big pockets”, his eyes visibly boggling at the idea). And while Ch. Lafleur might be uttered in the same breath as the likes of Pétrus, Lafite and Margaux, it remains a small, family-run affair. With Saint-Emilion ruled out, the family turned closer to home.  A distant but direct ancestor of the Guinaudeau family established Ch. Grand Village in 1650, and Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau reclaimed the Fronsac estate in 1980. Five years later they took charge of Ch. Lafleur, marking the start of this illustrious property’s renaissance. While their reputation has been built on the Pomerol estate, Fronsac has always been home. In fact, Jacques and Sylvie still live at Grand Village today, while their children– and current custodians of the family business –Baptiste and Julie also live on the outskirts of the village.   Although Fronsac might be considered lowly today, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, its wines commanded higher prices than those of either Saint-Emilion or Pomerol. The Médoc reigned supreme, with its affluence, proximity to the city of Bordeaux and access to transport via the Gironde – but Fronsac, bordered on one side by the Dordogne River and on the other by one of its subsidiaries, Isle, was not far behind. As nearby Libourne developed, this only helped Fronsac and its wines grow in importance. Back then, Ram explains: “You couldn’t cheat. If you didn’t have a great terroir, you wouldn’t be able to make great wine in nine out of 10 years.” Of course, the region fell from grace – and even today you can stumble across abandoned vineyards, no longer bringing in enough income for someone to bother to farm them. But the best wines speak for themselves – Ram and the Lafleur team have tasted bottles back through the 20th century and there are undoubtedly “great, great things” – even up until the 1980s, proving the potential of the region.  That history, combined with the familial ties and a dream of reviving Fronsac’s reputation of yore, made the region the obvious choice.   There were two elements key to creating a new Cru for the Guinaudeau family: firstly, the right site, but secondly having massal selections of their old vines. Lafleur has long championed its particular plantings of Bouchet (a historic name for Cabernet Franc) and Merlot that pre-date clonal selection.  They started a nursery for their heritage clones at Ch. Grand Village – taking cuttings of their most interesting old vines, grafting them onto American rootstocks and then repeating the process. The challenge was cultivating enough vine material for a new site. As this project got underway, the family continued their search for the perfect vineyards – but also decided they needed to test the theory, and see if their vines’ DNA would translate on limestone.  And so G Acte was born – a “beta testing” programme for what would become Les Perrières. They picked limestone-dominant plots at Ch. Grand Village for an experimental series, starting with the 2009 vintage – Acte 1. By Acte 6, 7 and 8 (the 2014, ’15 and ’16 vintages), Ram tells me, they knew that they were onto something special. At the same time, the team continued to search for the right site. Originally they looked to Burgundy for their inspiration, where the illustrious Grands Crus sit neither at the top or bottom of the hill – but in Fronsac the mid-slope only proffered overly rich, fertile soils dominated by clay. Each site they explored brought new disappointment – until they decided to forget about Burgundy. The best wines in Pomerol, Saint-Emilion and even the Médoc all come from a plateau – so they changed tack and started hunting for a site perched up high.  Talking to the region’s older vignerons, they discovered the plateau of Meyney – beneath which lies a warren of quarries, the source of the limestone that was used to build much of Libourne, and the châteaux across the Right Bank. The first soil-pit they dug offered instant promise – with a meagre 20cm or so of topsoil before you were scraping at the mother rock.   Almost a decade after their search had begun, in 2011, they bought the first vineyards – Les Canards and Les Poulains – just seven kilometres from Grand Village, then another parcel the following year. When Ram arrived at the estate in September 2013, he spent his first day working on one of those nascent vineyards. The work required was extensive. These sites had been conventionally farmed, planted with clones selected for quantity rather than quality, so they needed total rehabilitation. They uprooted the vines and rotated various cover crops (herbs, flowers, cereals) to revive the soils over four years – totally reconstituting them, returning organic matter and also, importantly, re-stabilising the soil structure. The whole process took four or five years for each plot, with the first of their new plantings only going in in 2016 (Les Canards). The focus was, at first, on Bouchet from Lafleur, with 20 different selections. In 2017, they planted Les Poulains, with around 25 Bouchet selections, then in 2018 they planted three more clay-rich parcels with Merlot, partly with their own heritage selections, as well as some carefully selected clones that passed muster.  In 2018, they harvested their first crop from 3.5 hectares of vines. The quality of the Bouchet from these “extreme limestone” soils was so distinct that – even when blended with Merlot parcels that had previously been used for G Acte – they bottled it under the new Cru’s name, Les Perrières.  Tasting it in a line-up alongside previous vintages of G Acte, the difference is as extreme as the soils. Later vintages of the experimental series offer a red-fruited crunch, vibrancy and transparency, but the 2018 Perrières shows an instant shift. There’s a step up in purity, precision, concentration and complexity, with a wilder, swarthier fruit character, yet it’s the mineral salinity that shines through, and is echoed in the 2019. These are serious wines that have a clear sense of place.  The 2020 vintage is the first that came exclusively from Perrières vineyards, with none of the G Acte parcels (these are now all being used for Grand Village). As they initially had more Bouchet plantings on these sites, the blend has shifted over time – with the 2020 having 70% Bouchet, 60% in 2021 and a return in 2022 to the 50/50 mix that is the norm for Lafleur and Pensées. While the aim isn’t always to have this varietal mix, the vineyards are planted so that Merlot and Bouchet can be equal – but the blend will be decided on taste.  Bouchet might be Lafleur’s trademark, but the Merlot is an essential component in Ram’s view. Alone, Bouchet is too linear, vertical, intellectual and even borderline austere. Merlot complements this, ensuring it not just makes you think, but leaves you reaching for another glass. “The greatest wines are not just for the mind, but for the heart and stomach too,” Ram says.   It’s still early days for Les Perrières – the soon-to-be-released 2022 will be only its fifth vintage. These vines are still babies by almost any standard, let alone those of Ch. Lafleur. Yet its potential – and path – is already clear. Ram anticipates it will take them around 20 years to get the wine to where they really want it to be, sitting as a true equal to Ch. Lafleur, but he’s confident that it’s just a matter of time.  It's amazing to see the work that has gone into this one wine – both on paper and in the glass. This isn’t just marketing, but a creed for the Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur – and one that it’s hard not to believe in. Your cheat sheet to the Lafleur stable: the Société Civile de Ch. Lafleur unpacked Ch. Lafleur – the property’s most famous wine, seen as the Grand Vin, an expression of the Lafleur DNA on gravel  Les Pensées – now an expression of the Lafleur DNA on clay. Up to and including the 1999 vintage, this was Ch. Lafleur’s second wine, made with fruit mainly from younger vines. From the 2000 vintage, the fruit comes exclusively from a diagonal strip of clay in the Lafleur vineyards, and is a different Cru. (It was labelled as Les Pensées de Lafleur prior to 2018, when the “de Lafleur” was officially dropped.)  Les Perrières – an expression of the Lafleur DNA on limestone, sourced from vineyards in Fronsac. The 2018 and 2019 vintages include some parcels at Ch. Grand Village, however from 2020 the fruit is sourced exclusively from separate sites in Fronsac, on extreme limestone soils on the plateau de Meyney.  Les Champs Libres – an expression of pure Sauvignon Blanc on limestone soils, from specific parcels in Fronsac. The first commercial release was the 2013 vintage.  Ch. Grand Village – a red and white are made under the Fronsac estate’s name, which is also the family home (Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau still live there today).  G Acte – made from 2009 to the 2017 vintages inclusive, an experimental series testing the concept of Lafleur on limestone while trying to find the right sites for Les Perrières, made using fruit from limestone-dominant parcels at Ch. Grand Village. The releases are numbered, with 2009 Acte 1 and so on.  Explore all Société Civile du Ch. Lafleur listings or read more about Bordeaux  

Ch. Lafleur is a Pomerol icon. Sophie Thorpe sat down with Omri Ram to talk about the philosophy that has driven the creation of its unique Crus – and the evolution of its newest project, Les Perrières

Sitting down with Lafleur winemaker Omri Ram to explore the philosophy behind the Pomerol property’s different Crus – and how G Acte became Les Perrières

How Lafleur created a new Cru with Les Perrières

From the ground up: the creed at Lafleur

Domaine de Montille is one of the most historic estates in the Cote d’Or, founded in 1730 and family-run and owned ever since. Today Etienne de Montille is the ninth generation at the helm.  The De Montille story through the ages is a familiar one in Burgundy in which for a long period there was a dwindling of holdings as more and more of their prized vineyards were agonisingly sold off to make ends meet during the lean years of the early twentieth century. Etienne’s father, Hubert de Montille took over the estate in 1947, aged just 17, by this time the domaine had just 2.5 hectares to its name. Etienne’s father knew that he had to change tack if the domaine was to survive and worked both as a vigneron and a lawyer to finance returning the estate to its former glory. Like his father, Etienne used his earnings as a lawyer to build up the domaine’s acreage, including a novel acquisition approach that in 2005 saw him acquire one of the region's finest Premier Cru sites - Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru Les Malconsorts – neighbouring the Grand Cru of La Tache.  The estate now produces over 35 cuvées from appellations throughout the Cote d’Or. Etienne talks us through the De Montille’s bumpy history, its extensive vineyard acquisition in recent years, how he learnt to make white wine from his brother-in-law (who just so happened to be Jean-Marc Roulot), as well as mapping out the different flavour profiles of his favourite sites at the heart of the domaine in Volnay and neighbouring Pommard. 
The history of the domaine 
Based in Volnay, the De Montille estate has had its fair share of ups and down. It once had one of the finest portfolios of vineyards anywhere in the Cote d’Or (including Bonnes Mares, Musigny and Amoureuses), before these famed sites were sold off to make ends meet. Hubert de Montille on taking over the estate in 1947, brought renewed fame to the domaine, being one of the first in Burgundy to domaine bottle his wines and whose Volnay 1er crus quickly became some of the finest in the appellation. At this time, 90% of all Burgundy was made and bottled by the large négociant houses.  
Whilst historic estates such as Domaine de la Romanee Conti, Georges Roumier and Armand Rousseau were bottling their own wines, it was the Marquis d’Angerville of Volnay that no doubt set a trend in the Cote de Beaune by bottling his own wine, starting in the 1930s. Marquis d’Angerville chastised the exploitation of the main negociants at the time, who in response refused to bottle his wines, forcing him to bottle them himself.  As Etienne explains the Marquis d’Angerville was an important figure in Burgundy at the time, not only setting the trend of domaine bottling in the region but also becoming one of the main instigators behind developing the AOC framework of the Cote d’Or, mapping the official boundaries of the Grand Cru and Premier Cru sites, a process that began in 1935. 
The distinct influence of Hubert de Montille 
The De Montille estate became famed for Hubert’s single-minded approach of making wines how he wanted them, austere and built for long ageing, making them fairly unapproachable in their youth. He was also known for his minimal chapitalisation, a method which he discovered accidentally by miscalculating his sugar levels on one of his cuvees in the 1959 vintage. It was only a couple of years later that he discovered how much better this cuvee aged than his other wines of the 1959 vintage and therefore adopted this approach going forward.  
Whilst, as Etienne explains, chapitalisation (the addition of sugar to the grape juice prior to fermentation to increase alcohol levels) in top estates in the modern era is very rarely adopted, it certainly didn’t harm the estate’s reputation when critics in the '90s started to raise concerns over over-chapitalisation as a worrying trend in the region.  Whilst over-chapitalisaton is rare today, the process is still adopted in the wineries when necessary. Very rarely spoken about amongst vignerons, Etienne describes it as similar to the seasoning of food. Certain cuvees in certain vineyards may benefit from a light chapitalisation or even acidification if required; two processes that remain contentious outside of Burgundy. With De Montille famed for low chapitalisation and long ageing wines, the domaine's reputation continued to grow. 
Etienne takes on the domaine 
On taking over the domaine in 1998 (following a staggering 50-year stint by his father), Etienne de Montille was an early advocate of organic farming. He continued to grow the estate, incorporating more Chardonnay vineyards to what was previously exclusively a Pinot- Noir producing domaine. Their first white wine vineyard purchase was the 1er Cru Puligny Montrachet Le Caillerat bought by Hubert in 1993. Etienne learnt how to make white wine under the guidance of his brother-in-law, who just so happened to be Jean-Marc Roulot and only helped see the domaine’s reputation grow.  Etienne recounts how Jean-Marc Roulot had a similar route to winemaking in that they both had successful careers outside of wine before returning to their family estates. Jean Marc Roulot is an actor, and was based in Paris at the same time Etienne was working as a lawyer there. Having both a separate career and being a vigneron, Etienne believes, made them both very open-minded in their second profession as winemakers and Jean-Marc Roulot was happy to share his knowledge in white wine production as well as them both being more innovative with their methods.  
Having two professions was a tradition passed down from one generation to the next of the de Montille family, with one of the siblings always working in legal services either as judges or lawyers. Etienne explains how it was in fact Hubert de Montille’s work as a lawyer looking after the estates of Monsieur Chatron that led to the acquisition of De Montille’s first chardonnay vineyard – Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Le Caillerets – one of the finest sites in Puligny neighbouring the Grand Cru of Montrachet.  
Hubert worked as his lawyer advising him on how to pay off his inheritance fees in order to pass down the estate to the next generation. To do this he had to sell off some vines and offered Hubert to buy the Le Cailleret vineyard in Puligny to thank him for his services. Although not an experienced white winemaker, with Jean Roulot recently marrying his daughter, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to get him on board and teach the young Etienne his white wine philosophy. 
A novel acquisition approach  
Etienne’s experience as a lawyer gave him the confidence to incorporate a novel approach to acquiring vineyards in the Cote d’Or at a time when vineyard acquisition was and remains a contentious issue for vignerons in the region. It led to Etienne successfully buying up vineyards including one of the Cote d’Or’s greatest sites: Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Malconsorts, neighbouring the Grand Cru of La Tache. Etienne explains that although his father had successfully taken his 2.5 hectares estate to 10 hectares over a 50-year period, the land prices of Burgundy were becoming too expensive for this to continue.  With the Malconsorts vineyard along with the vineyards of the Thomas Moillard domaine put up for sale, Etienne thought the opportunity was too good to miss and approached the Seysses family (Domaine Dujac) to see if they would be interested in setting up a land company, buying the land together and using minority shareholders to finance the acquisition.  
These minority shareholders would then rent out their share of the land to the two estates and were often paid back in wine. Back then, Etienne states, it was the first time ever in Burgundy that two smaller family estates had bought a larger property. Etienne pioneered the legal structure to favour the vignerons with the controlling share and it became a popular method that was copied all over Burgundy by other vignerons following their success. Etienne states “this is unlikely to happen again, land in Burgundy between now and 2005 has gone up by almost 12 times the value”.  Despite this, Etienne successfully managed another huge acquisition following the financial crash of 2008 when he purchased Domaine de Puligny Montrachet. This estate was a property he had managed ever since he returned back to Burgundy from Paris in 2001. At that time it was owned by a bank and following financial pressures of the economic crash in 2008, viewed the estate as a non-performing asset and therefore put it up for sale. Due to Etienne’s connection, he was given first refusal.  Since taking over the property in 2009 an EU law that came into practice in 2017 banned the use of an appellation name to be part of a domaine name, so since 2017, the wines under the original Chateau de Puligny Montrachet have been incorporated into the De Montille domaine, increasing their holdings to a total of 37 hectares (20 in red; 17 in white) in 35 separate appellations. 
Etienne de Montille's winemaking philosophy 
But Etienne’s skills are not only in acquisition. He was an early advocate of organic farming, practising organic principles from 2003. He also changed the style of the De Montille wines making them less austere than his father’s with his influence coming through the wines from the 1998 vintage onwards. Etienne incorporates whole bunch fermentation but varies the quantity depending on the specific terroirs.  
Identifying the nuance of each site and how much whole cluster to use is the key to his red winemaking, ranging from 20% to 100% whole bunch depending on the site. He carries out no cold soak prior to fermentation which takes place at ambient temperatures with low-level extraction, punch downs are carried out only when necessary. All wine is aged in barrel between 5% to 60% new oak depending on the site and vintage conditions, followed by a long élevage prior to bottling. The approach to white wines, under the influence of Jean-Marc Roulot’s teachings, is to be very conscious of preserving the acidic backbone of the wine providing a precise length and expression of terroir. The wine is barrel fermented followed by long élevage (12 months in barrel) and aged further on the lees in tank - 2 to 6 months with one racking. The percentage of new oak again varies depending on the specific plots, ranging from 5% to 50% new oak barrel. 
Mapping Volnay and Pommard’s Premier Crus  
Etienne states that all the top Volnay Premier Cru sites are on the middle slopes of the appellation. Whilst slightly varying in topography and exposition, Etienne believes the flavour profiles of each of the vineyards is 80% to do with the geology and topsoil of the specific vineyard, with the winemaking of each producer, the vintage variation and the exposition of the vineyards combined making up the remaining 20%.  This highlights the overwhelming terroir influence of these Premier Crus.  Volnay 1er Cru Brouillards  "This is the most accessible of our Premier Crus and what is best described as 'very Volnay'. It has all the characteristics most closely associated with the appellation – pretty red fruit, very juicy, elegant light tannins and very approachable." Volnay 1er Cru Champans "The Champans is similar to Brouillard in its fruitiness and approachability, although the tannins are firmer and slightly more structured.  "But it is a very expressive and immediate, open-style Volnay. We use two-thirds whole cluster in this cuvee."  Volnay 1er Cru Mitans  "The Mitans is the most perfumed and fragrant of the Premier Crus in Volnay. And whilst the Champans is also very expressive, the aromas of Mitans are more serious, not just fruit but mineral too. Here we use 100% whole cluster fermentation." Volnay 1er Cru Taille Pieds "This is the flagship cuvee of our estate. It is the most mineral-driven wine in Volnay. Very spicy, very stony and lots of saline character. The wine has huge depth and a very long finish.  "It is however the least open and the less approachable requiring time in bottle to develop. Even at 40 – 60 years old the wine shows beautiful combination of rose petal, earth, morrel mushroom and truffle character. The wine has so many facets to it."  Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens Bas  "This wine is a planet on its own. It has the elegance and finesse of top Volnay site but with the depth and breadth and structure more akin to top Pommard vineyards. It is Grand Cru quality and the top site in Pommard."  Pommard 1er Cu Grands Epenots "The most classic Pommard in style. Deep clay soils give the wine huge structure, sometimes can be a bit rustic to start with. Tannic, big, powerful wine." 
Pommard 1er Cru Pezerolles "This is the most Volnay-like Pommard 1er cru in the appellation despite being the furthest site away from Volnay. It is the most elegant Premier Cru of Pommard."  Nuits Saints Georges 1er Cru Aux Thorey  Etienne describes how this single vineyard site was bought in the acquisition of the Thomas Moillard domaine, along with the Malconsorts vineyard. When identifying which vineyards to buy in the sharing of the estate Etienne heard that Sylvain Cathiard considered the Aux Thorey vineyard to be amongst the best terroirs in Nuits St Georges and that was enough to persuade him of its potential. The site is certainly more Vosne in profile than Nuits Saint Georges, with fine tannins, elegant structure and beautiful perfumes similar to the vineyards of the much admired La Damodes.
 Explore more Editorial 

Etienne de Montille talks us through the De Montille’s bumpy history, its huge growth in vineyard acquisition, how he learnt to make white wine from his brother-in-law, Jean Marc Roulot, as well as mapping out the different flavour profiles of his favourite sites in Volnay and neighbouring Pommard.

Domaine de Montille is the most historic Cote d’Or estate. Etienne de Montille talks about the Volnay wine estate's bumpy history and its huge recent growth.

The Genealogy of Domaine de Montille

Domaine de Montille: The genealogy of the estate

Les Amoureuses

Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru

Chambolle-Musigny

Côte de Nuits

Burgundy

France

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