Since 2000, the nephew of Aubert and Pamela de Villaine has been running the Bouzeron estate, which they acquired in 1973. For the Athenaeum, he reflects on nearly 50 years of both small and significant stories…
How did the story of this estate begin?
As soon as they arrived at Romanée-Conti in the mid-1960s, Uncle Aubert and Aunt Pamela expressed their desire to produce their wines within their own estate. In both the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune, prices were prohibitive. They therefore turned toward the Côte Chalonnaise, and Bouzeron caught their attention. The village was easily accessible from Beaune, where they were living at the time, as well as from Vosne-Romanée. In 1973, they acquired an 8-hectare estate producing Bourgogne Aligoté, Bourgogne Blanc, and Bourgogne Rouge.
Beyond the practical aspects, what motivated this choice?
I believe my uncle immediately grasped the full potential of Bouzeron’s Bourgogne Aligoté. As early as the 18th century, Abbé Courtépée, a prominent historian of Burgundy, had mentioned it, and, in the 20th century, history had proved him right. Let me explain… After phylloxera, American rootstocks allowed viticulture to recover. In Burgundy, the decision was made to focus on the notion of terroir through two main grape varieties: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. As a result, Aligoté planted in altitude, benefiting from excellent exposure, was moved lower down, onto richer soils that ensured higher yields. Not so in Bouzeron. The village’s winegrowers—mostly modest farmers—simply couldn’t afford it. There, Aligoté remained at the top of the slope. Similarly, fermentation in large oak vats continued, because buying barrels was too expensive. All these particularities reveal Bouzeron’s remarkable ability—through its Aligotés—to remain anchored in its terroir and to keep expressing it at its best. Enough to appeal to my uncle, who went on to convince fellow local winegrowers to join him in applying for Village status. It was granted in 1998—a swift process! And for good reason: everything was already there. Uncle Aubert simply “awakened a sleeping beauty.”
And where do you come into the picture?
At that time, I—son of a Sancerre winegrower—was studying law in Paris, after having dreamed of becoming an astronaut, then a helicopter pilot. High intraocular pressure had prevented it. To help fund my studies, I sold wine for the retailer “Les Domaines qui montent,” while going as often as possible to our family’s countryside home in northern Brittany. It was there that one evening, over a small glass of marc and a conversation about vines and wine, my grandfather Henri de Villaine (co-manager of Romanée-Conti), Uncle Aubert, and I realized we shared the same vision of terroir. Enough that, some time later, they offered me the chance to manage Domaine de Villaine. Though I initially refused, a visit in 1999 finally convinced me: doesn’t Aligoté belong to the same aromatic family as Sauvignon, Sancerre’s main grape variety? And so, in October 2000, I arrived in Bouzeron to oversee the production of our Bourgogne Aligotés, Bourgogne Blanc, and Bourgogne Rouge, to which the Mercurey Les Montots and Rully Les Saint-Jacques appellations had been added in 1991.
What were your first priorities?
Handling the emergency: in August 2001, on Uncle Aubert’s birthday, we were hit by 100% hail damage. Even though insurance covered most of it, I had to sell 2 hectares of vines in Bouzeron to pay everyone’s salaries… Once the crisis passed, I decided to focus on winemaking, as my uncle had already done much for our terroirs. At the time—as today—we had 17 Aligoté parcels spread across the whole appellation, and the grapes from each were vinified separately. Hence the temptation to blend them in the cellar, to taste 17 nuances of Aligoté from 17 different terroirs. That seemed more interesting to me for exploring a Village appellation than highlighting each lieu-dit individually. Driven by that desire, I wanted to show my uncle I was the best. I wanted to change everything. I tried every conceivable vessel: stainless steel tanks, amphorae, barrels… Only to find that large oak vats remained the best solution. First, at our scale, they allow us to vinify each parcel in a single container. Each vine unit corresponds to a unit of wine. Second, they offer very slow micro-oxygenation: our indigenous yeasts — we’ve been working organically since 1983! — have all the time they need to express themselves, one after another. Third, inside a vat, due to the gases released during fermentation, the wine naturally moves in a stretched figure-eight pattern—the symbol of infinity, immortality… A major observation for us, who adopted biodynamic methods in 2000 and are convinced that wine carries memories: those of a terroir, a fruit, and a winegrower, representing more than 2,000 years of winemaking history… As a result, we cut our sulfur dosages in half and switched to their volcanic version. All of this reflects, in my view, our commitment to working as naturally as possible.
Since 2000, the estate has also expanded significantly…
Indeed. After the hail episode and the sale of 2 hectares in Bouzeron, the estate only grew. In 2001, it covered 18 hectares producing Bourgogne Aligoté, Bourgogne Blanc and Rouge, Mercurey Les Montots, and Rully Les Saint-Jacques. As time passed and our practices improved, we became convinced of the value of producing wines that could showcase the team and our methods. In 2011, we acquired vines in Santenay 1er Cru Passetemps—a nod to our ancestor Jacques-Marie Duvault-Blochet, architect of the Romanée-Conti estate as we know it today, who also owned vines there. That same year, new land in Rully 1er Cru Grésigny was added. More acquisitions followed: first, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Perrières in 2014; then, around 2016, Rully 1er Cru Les Margotés, Montpalais, and Les Champs Cloux; and finally, soon after, Rully 1er Cru Rabourcé, Raclot, Cloux, and Les Champs Cloux. Today, Domaine de Villaine covers 16 appellations versus 5 when I arrived, spread across 30 hectares.
All these acquisitions must have posed challenges, right?
Mostly in terms of organization. In 2001, with 18 hectares, we were in our comfort zone. We operated smoothly thanks to the team assembled by Uncle Aubert. They were older, yes, but highly experienced. When the estate reached 30 hectares, things became considerably more complicated: we had to deal with many retirements and a much greater need for staff. Fortunately, for the past year or two, our young team has been stable and enthusiastic.
And today?
The organic farming methods implemented since 1983 are fully understood—by our vines and by our team. Our biodynamic practices help us better respect the four energies required for the proper balance of soil and wine: mineral (soil), vegetal (grape varieties), astral (planetary forces), and animal (humans and animals living alongside the vines). Water from the terroir, captured by the vine’s fruit, harmonizes the whole. So much so that, if I may exaggerate slightly, I see myself as a seeker of terroir water. The holistic vision of the terroir, so dear to Rudolf Steiner, prevails. It invites us to look beyond the fruit itself, to detach it from the wine, and in doing so, to propose an understanding of terroir that extends beyond the earthly. I like to speak of a celestial definition of terroir, and to believe that in this sense, one of my childhood dreams has come true: becoming an astronaut.