Since 2017, at the head of his own estate, he has made a name for himself, thanks to his wines. Mainly whites with a subtle balance between expression of the terroir and respect for the vintage, including a large number of 1er Cru in Saint-Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet. Visit.
For 19 appellations, the size of your estate remains very reasonable…
Yes, it is. We farm 9 hectares, including rented vines, on which we now provide 100% of the service. It’s a win-win situation for everyone: the owner and us, with the added bonus of a new appellation: Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien. When I say ‘we’, I mean three full-time employees, mainly working in the vines, and me, who looks after the cellar. Smelling the wine, tasting it… it’s an experience you can’t entrust to anyone else. I carry out this work alone, thanks to a specially adapted ‘tool’.
Are you talking about your new winery?
I wanted a building that would allow me to work entirely by gravity and with a certain degree of comfort. A sloping site was essential. We ended up finding it 100 metres from our house. The construction work took almost 2 years and was completed in December 2022. We had to dig into the rock, to a depth of over 10 metres, to create this 4-storey concrete winery, including two underground cellars. There, my barrels are at man-height, quite clear of each other. So much so that in just 10 minutes, I can smell an entire row. What’s more, I’ve got a built-in goods lift so I can take them upstairs and rack them. They’re all fitted with a total emptying system from underneath. It’s really easy and practical.
And pretty too!
Are you talking about the openings in the cellars? We created them along the way. They reveal the limestone in our soils: the grey, which is very dense, and, above all, the yellow, which is more crumbly, infiltrated by spring water. This is what makes our terroirs and therefore our wines so special: that minerality, a little salty, spicy, crisp… We owe it all to it!
As long as you work with respect for the terroirs…
Every winemaker must have an objective in mind. The vines, the date of harvest and the ageing all depend on it. I’m guided by two things. First and foremost, the right expression of the terroir; with more or less minerality, tension, freshness… For as long as I’ve been working them, I’ve known each one. Then there’s respect for the vintage. If it’s a sunny year, that should be reflected in the wine. Let’s take 2023 as an example. A very hot vintage. In July, the harvest potential looked huge. We decided to remove 30 to 40% of the grapes before veraison, to take account of the maturity observed and the minerality of each terroir.
Speaking of practices, are you organic?
Not certified. I value this freedom. In 2024, it allowed me to treat the vineyard to save my harvest. I don’t have any pre-established processes, dogmas or bans. The only thing that counts is the objective I have in mind. And I’m doing everything I can to achieve it.
In this quest, the harvest date is crucial, isn’t it?
When it comes to making a wine, you can talk about filtration or not, about one phase of the moon rather than another, about 500-litre or 600-litre barrels… But for me, nothing is more important than the date of harvest. In this field, it’s the balance of the fruit that counts, between flesh, acidity, minerality… Because, rather counter-intuitively, it’s exactly the same harmony that you’ll find in the wine later on. There’s something quite specific to look for here. And it’s not a question of week, but of day. That’s why I taste. During the pre-harvest period, 100 to 150 grapes are picked here and there each morning before being pressed. Tasting does the rest. I have little or no interest in phenolic levels and other analyses carried out by oenologists. Not that I’m against them, but they give a rather chemical view of the wine. We’re not in the register of emotion, energy… But it’s precisely these boxes that I want to tick.
Do you sort?
Hardly at all. A few leaves, a grasshopper that slipped in and that’s it. 100% of the harvest is put into barrels. I don’t remove the lees. So we have a lot of lees. That’s important. It protects the wine better, it nourishes it.
Then comes the ageing…
One year on average in demi-muids, then 3 to 4 months in vats. As I explained, all my barrels can easily be moved. This is important, especially when the alcoholic fermentation is not finished. On a case-by-case basis, at the first sign of sunshine in March, I’ll take a barrel up on the goods lift, leave it in the sun for the day and off it goes again.
And the sulphur?
Only at the bottling. For two main reasons. Firstly, during ageing, a wine is built without sulphur. Otherwise, I find that it closes up and its aromas don’t develop. On the other hand, not using sulphur for a year means using large containers. They retain the CO2 better and therefore protect the wine more from the risks of oxidation, as long as they are opened as little as possible. So I don’t stir the lees during ageing. The rest of the time, I keep an eye on things. I smell again and again, to measure the changes taking place and prepare for any setbacks. That’s what’s so exciting: the cellar lives! Secondly, I’m sure you’d agree that the sulphur itself isn’t great. Like most people, I think, I’m rather resistant to it, even a little allergic. But it’s essential. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to make a Chardonnay that lasts over time. Basically, sulphur is a bit like the concrete foundations of a house: 1 metre deep is enough. So why build 8 metres?
Then it’s time for bottling…
Before bottling, I do a racking to remove the large lees. Bottling then follows, without filtration, on three conditions: a clear wine, the balance on the palate that is so important to me, and the right moon phase. A rising moon for a wine with a little reduction, and a falling moon for a wine with less reduction. The tidal coefficients also play a role. Once the wine is bottled, it is corked: 100% diam on my side. No cork. There are too many variations. Out of 50,000 corks of the best quality, you’ll always have 4,000 that leave something to be desired. But that’s no reason to sulphite more to protect the wine… With diam, since 2013 I’ve divided my sulphur doses by 3!
What about 2023?
It’s shaping up to be one of the great vintages of the last 20 years. Admittedly, we haven’t bottled everything yet, but the wines already have a brilliance, purity and balance that are rare at this stage.