Antoine Jobard took over from his father François on his retirement twelve years ago, becoming the fifth generation to take charge of the Domaine. The 2011 vintage was the first time we had tasted chez Jobard and the wines hugely impressed. Since then the bar has been raised higher still each year.

Here is a perfect example of the trend seen in Meursault over the last few years where the archetypal sweet-fruited, buttery, highly-oaked wines that dominate popular perception of the appellation have started to give way to wines that that are more lightly oaked and earlier picked, keeping a tension and focus to the wine and allowing the terroir to better express itself. Jobard now produces "some of the most long lived Meursaults" (Andrew Jefford, The New France). The flavour profile too is shifting, from tropical fruits to citrus.

Antoine is not one prone to hyperbole, so when he answered than he thought 2018 was the best vintage for 30 or 40 years, we were taken aback. Drawing particular parallels to the 1982 vintage, was also an abundant, but high quality harvest, his impression was backed up by our tasting samples.

Everything here performed a level up from what could be expected, from the Bourgogne that wipes the floor with many other producers’ Meursaults, to a Poruzots that suggests that maybe Meursault ought to be awarded a Grand Cru or two after all. These were some of the unquestioned white highlights of the vintage, and a property not to miss in 2018.

Our visits to Nicolas Potel’s Maison Roche de Bellene are always memorable for several reasons, including being reminded of how much of a wine nut Nicolas is – his knowledge of the minutest of details of for example specific sub-plots within vineyards illustrates a real attention to detail that very much manifests itself in the winery too. One would hope from a good Burgundy négociant to get a large range of wines at a consistent and good level of quality and at a keen price – Roche de Bellene ticks these boxes and goes far beyond.

Alas, our sampling of the 2019s had to be made through samples sent over to the UK. We were impressed by the quality of a number of Nicolas’s wines in this vintage and have selected the pick of the bunch for our offer. A change in style is evidently underway at this address, with elegance and finesse evidently elements being sought more eagerly than before.

Neal Martin notes this shift too in his vintage report, summing up its benefits succinctly: “This revised modus operandi has yielded some real gems that do not necessarily cluster at the higher end of the portfolio.” As ever then, Roche de Bellene’s range is a happy hunting ground for value, but now it more in a Burgundy purists-pleasing style than ever before.

While part of the larger Domaines Albert Bichot enterprise, Domaine Long-Depaquit is run separately, with a different winemaking team headed by Matthieu Mangenot in charge of affairs in this Northernmost outpost of Burgundy. Included in the estate’s 65ha of vineyards are an enviable quantity of 15 hectares of Premier Cru and 10 hectares of Grand Cru land.

Mangenot was particularly pleased by 2019’s purity of fruit, as well as being pleasantly surprised at how well the acidity levels—crucial of course in Chablis—held up in the summer heat. This feeds through in the wines, which showed flavours further up the ripeness spectrum than would be usual for Chablis, but which were nonetheless vibrant and fresh. It’s Chablis for sure, but not quite as we know it! The wines are undoubtedly excellent though and this style is one that can be appreciated by many more drinkers than just the Chablis purists.

Domaine Chofflet is located in the picture-book hillside hamlet of Russily, in the Côte Chalonnaise. The estate has been in the family for over 100 years and today the 11 hectare domaine is run by Jean Chofflet’s son-in-law, Denis Valdenaire, a former alpine ski monitor. After taking over the Domaine in 2000, Denis studied viticulture in Beaune where he took on the idea of moving the estate’s farming to more sustainable means, achieving ‘agriculture raisonnée’ certification in 2008.

After having dropped the -Valdenaire suffix from Domaine Chofflet last year at the same time as introducing a smart new label design, the 2019s produced at this address were seductively silky, packed full of upfront fruit and rather irresistible, especially given the modest price tag.

Among one of the most humble and charming people you would want to meet, Benoît Stehly is producing some delightful wines at this Domaine in Morey. Benoît has been working there since 2002 and has taken on the day to day management in the last decade.

This estate is on a run of top form over recent vintages, producing quite a spread of elegant wines across the range of classifications. It’s notable that Jancis Robinson in particular clearly appreciates the appeal of these wines as her 2016 feature on Domaine George Lignier testifies – “I'd like to draw your attention to a domaine that seems to be getting better and better.”

In 2019 a clear effort has been made to produce wines that speak much more of the Domaine’s restrained, charmingly lightweight style than of the ripe vintage. Mineral, fresh and well built to go with food, this is a line up of wines built for drinking, not for landing knockout blows on the palate.

The purchase, in early 2017 of this estate by Screaming Eagle owner Stan Kroenke created some of the biggest headlines of the year in the world of fine wine, the American businessman falling for the “terroir that exists nowhere else”.

Already one of Burgundy’s most prestigious estates, Kroenke is aiming to push Bonneau du Martray that tiny bit further to fully exploit the Domaine’s magnificent holdings. This is the only Domaine in Burgundy that makes solely Grand Cru, owning the single largest block of vineyards on the Corton hill.

Cyril Audoin, who has run this Domaine with his wife Marie-Françoise since 1972, is passionate about this Northernmost appellation in the Côte de Nuits, right on the edge of the city of Dijon. Back when his father Charles bought up some of Marsannay’s best parcels of land, the village did not even possess its own appellation, while today the talk is of Premiers Crus being given the blessing by the authorities.

Being a relatively young appellation, Marsannay can be had at a very keen price when compared to its fellow Côte de Nuits red villages, but make no mistake, Audoin’s wines are serious stuff, with excellent terroir expression and, as a tasting of older vintages proved, plenty of ability to age gracefully.

If you haven’t yet explored the wines of Domaine Audoin, or Marsannay for that matter, now is the time!

A quick trip up Rue de la Tâche in Vosne takes you to this Domaine. Under the radar in the UK until now, Jasper Morris visited for the first time to review the 2019s, while the estate itself is undetgoing major renovations, with a new enlarged cellar being built to accommodate newly-inherited parcels.

These wines, still mainly sold through high-end restaurants in France, are perhaps on the richer side of the Vosne spectrum, but are tremendously well polished and balanced. In an otherwise quite wealthy village of Vosne-Romanée, there’s something refreshingly unpretentious about this estate. One to watch.

To call François Bertheau eccentric would be an understatement; he is with little doubt the most charismatic winemaker we met all week. Based in the centre of Chambolle-Musigny, François took over from his father Pierre in 2003 and has since had no shortage of suitors for his vineyard holdings which are all based in Chambolle and which include two of the most desirable sites in Burgundy.

Stylistically these wines are fascinating. He practices ‘lutte raisonnée’, allows the fruit to determine the style of the wine and gives it every chance by limiting manipulation in the vineyard and winery. A small one-man band, this Domaine and its wonderful wines have earned cult status with sommeliers around the world.

This estate based in Ladoix-Serrigny, just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges has very rapidly become one of our customer favourites after first being featured in the 2016 vintage. Gaston’s son Pierre now runs the estate, focussing on the viticulture whilst his colleague Vincent takes care of vinification. A true family Domaine which typifies the traditional Burgundy ethos, they primarily sell direct to consumers from the cellar, but we are delighted to be one of the first to offer them in the UK.

True to their geography straddling the border between the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, the wines combine elegance with power, silky tannins with mid-palate weight and red fruit with black.

Based right in the heart of Gevrey-Chambertin, 2019 is the fifth vintage we have offered from this Domaine and the wines were once again on top form. Run by Florence and her husband Simon, in the vineyard the operation is run organically, with full biodynamic certification due to follow imminently.

This of course necessitates a painstaking level of attention to detail in the vineyards, something that is also in evidence in the winery, with every decision, for example about the percentage of whole clusters to use, being pored over and each cuvée being treated separately according to its own needs. The wines are an absolute pleasure to drink, with the silky texture of the tannins and the purity of the fruit noteworthy.

The 2019 line up is particularly strong across the board, with strong performances across village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru level, making it pretty difficult to go too far wrong with this Domaine, especially for fans of minimal-intervention, bio-dynamic, or just plain excellent red Burgundy.

A trip to Domaine Moreau is always a treat. The tiny winery is attached to the bustling family home and the Moreaus are always very welcoming. The winery’s roots stretch back to 1809 and original owner Auguste Moreau, but it took on its current guise in 1930 under Marcel Moreau. Bernard started to look after the vineyards at the tender age of fourteen and Moreau’s reputation as one of the top Chassagne producers was well established by the 1980s. Bernard’s sons Alex and Benoît are now in charge of the winery and vineyards respectively.

The Domaine owns plots in six Chassagne Premiers Crus, so it’s always a joy and an education to try them alongside each other and note the subtle differences. We only have one problem with this Domaine; we cannot get enough!

Alex cannot decide which vintage he prefers between 2018 and 2019, with the latter not having fully revealed its hand at this stage. What he does praise specifically though, is 2019’s energy.

What can be said about Cathiard besides the fact that their range is so heavily oversubscribed each year that they do not typically make it into this brochure? Aware of the worldwide clamour for this wines, Sébastien Cathiard has in 2019 brought into his range a new pair of reds from the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits.

More accessibly priced than his Vosne, Nuits and Chambolle wines, but fully showcasing the quality of his winemaking ‘Les Dames Huguettes’ gets marked out by Burghound’s Allen Meadows as part of his “Top Value” selection of 2019 reds, with the ‘Aux Chaumes’ a mere point behind.

Domaine Gouges is one of Nuits-Saint-Georges’s most famous Domaines and one of the appellation’s best – “the doyen of Nuits-Saint-Georges with magnificent wines” says Clive Coates MW.

The Gouges family have been owners of this Domaine since 1919 and founder Henri is something of a Burgundian revolutionary. He was a key player in the battle against fraud and was the first Burgundian to bottle his own wine because it guarantees provenance and therefore quality. Domaine bottling is now practised throughout Burgundy.

Grandson Gregory runs the Domaine with the same drive and passion for quality as his legendary grandfather. The Domaine’s wines were renowned under Henri as some of the most structured and long-lived of Nuits-Saint-Georges’ wines. However, Gregory has been working towards a more approachable style. That said, these are still wines very much built for ageing.

Having started studying viticulture at the age of 13 and then started as the general manager of Domaine Comte Armand at just 26, it’s fair to say Benjamin was a bit of a child prodigy, it’s easy to forget how young he is now despite his wealth of experience garnered already. Now based in a winery in the heart of the town of Beaune, he has been acquiring new parcels of vineyard sites at quite a rate, but the quality is rising just as quickly as his vineyard holdings. Given the number of wines he now makes, it is remarkable how consistently excellent these wines are from top to bottom.

Neal Martin remarks that “this was an excellent portfolio of 2019s from Leroux. His practice of commencing the fermentation of whites in barrel and then using the new oak to mature the reds, thereby lessening the wood impact, has paid dividends.” Once again, Leroux has mastered the vintage conditions to produce a diverse portfolio of excellent wines in both colours, our pick of which is featured below.

Although there is archival evidence dating this Domaine back to 1704, for almost 250 years the succession passed through a sole female heir. Until the birth of Lucien Camus in 1949 therefore, the Domaine name changed with each successive generation. Luc and his wife Bernadette (née Bruchon) are blessed with both a son, Guillaume, who since 2001 has been working full-time at the Domaine and a daughter, Alexandra, who is the oenologist at the well-known Beaune négociant Albert Bichot.

Based on the edge of Savigny and overlooking the village’s finest plots, this Domaine has 9.5ha of vineyard across regional, village and Premier Cru sites in Savigny, Pommard and Beaune, this wines aged mainly in 500 litre barrels in order to ensure the oaking is subtle and well integrated into the wines.

Guillaume considers 2019 one of his best ever vintages and with wines sat refreshingly in the 13.2-13.8% alcohol band, it is hard to disagree that these are some of the most appealing wines ever made here. This charming, under-the-radar address seems finally to be catching the eye, with Neal Martin making his first visit to taste the 2019s, signing off “I look forward to returning.”

Made from grapes grown in what is effectively the front garden of the Château de Puligny-Montrachet, in the heart of the village of Puligny-Montrachet itself, the ‘Clos du Château’ Bourgogne blanc made a very welcome return to our range in 2018 and we are delighted to continue this with the 2019. New rules mean that Château names can no longer contain a geographical reference if the wine itself does not carry that appellation, so Etienne de Montille has taken the decision to merge the Château de Puligny-Montrachet labels into his Domaine de Montille portfolio.

Last year while we were focussed on returning the Clos du Château to our range, we simply could not resist adding a pair of outstanding reds at the same time, both from Nuits-Saint-Georges. The ‘Aux Saints-Juliens’ from a plot near the border with Vosne-Romanée was possibly the best village Nuits we tried all week, while our first encounter with their Premier Cru ‘Aux Thorey’ was truly stunning. Neal Martin compared the 2017 to that of Domaine Cathiard’s—high praise indeed. The 2019 he calls “one of my favourite Premier Crus in the appellation”, something we would very much echo given how well our sample of this wine was showing.

One of the Côte d’Or’s greatest and longest-established Domaines, Grivot is now predominantly in the hands of Mathilde, who in the last few years has been gradually taking over from her father Etienne. The house style remains the same, with late harvesting and extended periods of barrel ageing resulting in a muscular, structured style that can be difficult to taste when young, but which after a few years in the cellar open up to reveal beautiful black-fruit driven wines. The quality of the Domaine’s holdings helps in no small part, however the Grivot magic is evident across the range, even on the Gamay-based Coteaux Bourguignons.

Neal Martin was smitten by Grivot’s 2019, calling it a vintage that “continues their scintillating run of form that has seen them become one of the most coveted producers in the most coveted appellation.” He picks out the Coteaux Bourguignon for particular for the quality it delivers for the money: “In terms of value, their 100% Gamay Côteaux Bourguignon is absolutely delicious.”

As always, the Méo-Camuzet tasting was one of the highlights of the week. If you have not had the pleasure of encountering Méo-Camuzet before, they are one of the biggest names, not only in their home town of Vosne, but in all of Burgundy.

Stylistically they produce very polished, but exotic, rich wines which take oak well. They are very ageworthy, yet show well in their relative youth. Individual vineyard expression is very strong, so it is worth reading the individual notes in detail. Some stems (rather than whole bunches) are added, but no more than about 10%. This was one of the most impressive barrel tastings we have ever conducted at this venerable estate, each cuvée a masterpiece in how to make the best possible wine from its site. Serious wines, with serious ageing potential.

Domaine Matrot was established in 1909 by Joseph Matrot and had been run solely by his understated but talented grandson Thierry since 1976, with 2015 his last vintage before handing over the reigns to his daughters Elsa and Adèle. They are now renowned as “a top-class Meursault producer” (Wine International) and own some of the best plots in Meursault’s finest vineyards.

The sisters, like their father before them, believe in using oak only very sparingly. They are firm believers that quality comes from the vineyard, so let the fruit do the talking. Early picked and lightly oaked, Matrot’s 2019s stood out even more than usual for their delicious vibrancy and in the case of the reds, for their crunchy red fruit.

This year saw Neal Martin’s first visit to the estate, his verdict being that “the Matrot sisters have already accomplished a great deal, especially given that they have only been directing the domaine for four years”. His highlight was “the killer Meursault Les Charmes, as good as you will find this vintage”, while he also added “if you are on a budget check out the wonderful Monthélie Rouge.”

Maison Drouhin was established in 1880 by Joseph Drouhin and has remained a family affair ever since, being run nowadays by the fourth generation. Frédéric is assuming overall control of the firm from his father Robert while his brother Philippe and sister Véronique, who both studied at Dijon now look after the vineyards and winemaking respectively. The estate itself occupies the breathtaking Parliament building, one of the most beautiful cellars in all of Beaune, originating from the time when Burgundy was an independent duchy.

Nearly all of Domaine Drouhin is fully organic and biodynamic, with that very same philosophy being extended to newly acquired vineyards. Benefitting from the use of optical sorting tables from 2013 onwards, these wines are often darker, denser and more concentrated than many.

Drouhin hit the mark more consistently in 2019 than pretty much anyone else in Burgundy, the wines so succulent and impressive, while also being moreish and refreshing. This line up is on better form than ever and it is impossible to go wrong with any of them this year.

While Faiveley’s vineyard holdings are extensive by Burgundian standards, quality reflects the fact that this is a family Domaine, making wine from parcels under its own ownership. In fact, they care for their wines so much, this is the only cellar I have ever seen where the most precious wine is kept in a barrel closed with a lockable bung!

The number of decades-old examples of Faiveley’s wines that are pulled out for retrospective tastings underlines the fact that these wines are likely to appeal greatly to the traditionalist who is looking for more structure and for wines to cellar rather than for instant gratification. Some of the most impressive Burgundies we have tasted are from this Domaine, but all of them have been at the peak of maturity, so patience is certainly rewarded here. Though in saying that, the charming Mercurey ‘La Framboisière is once again a notable exception which can be enjoyed young.

The range from top to bottom this year was on top form. Without jettisoning the structure for which the wines are famed, the winemaking team has captured the approachable, fruit-driven essence of the year. Les Referts was a particular highlight of our tasting.

Documented by the monks of Saint Martin for owning vineyards as far back as the 16th century, successive generations of the Servin family have continued the tradition of winemaking in Chablis ever since.

Today the approach is very much a mixture of modern and traditional techniques. The best vineyard sites are hand harvested to ensure fruit arrives at optimum ripeness. Single plot vinification takes place in a mixture of stainless steel and oak, letting the differences in terroir shine in each wine. The vines average 40 years and most of the sites are on Kimmeridgian limestone soils. This gives the wines their power, concentration and minerality which is so typical of the Domaine’s style. The Grands Crus in particular have great cellaring potential.

Allen Meadows reports that 2019 “is one of the best vintages I’ve seen here when considered from the top to the bottom of the range,” echoing Marc Cameron’s surprise “that such a hot and dry vintage could have given us such fresh and relatively classically styled wines.” This is a Servin vintage not to miss.

Allen Meadows, Neal Martin and William Kelley have all earmarked siblings Gilbert and Christine Felettig’s Chambolle-Musigny Domaine as a rising star and our visits here over the last half decade or so years, plus an impressive set of 2019 samples tasted in the UK, have really reinforced this view.

Gilbert is not shy of using a little new oak where it is called for, naturally increasing in the percentage used as we go up to the Premiers and Grands Crus. Whole bunch inclusion is practiced here, but always varying according to the plot, so 0% for some and up to 45% for others, but this always varies by plot and does not follow the appellation hierarchy.

Gilbert continues to expand his portfolio of wines, which now number 35, our picks of which are featured in this offer. He is clearly a man driven both by a desire to express the terroirs of his various holdings and by wanting to experiment and improve his own winemaking incrementally year on year.

Splitting from the family estate Domaine Marc Colin in 2016, 2019 was only the third vintage produced by Joseph under his own name. Not that he is exactly a newcomer to winemaking, having many vintages under his belt already.

We have been blown away by the quality of the whites from this estate since Joseph’s solo debut 2017 vintage. Specialising in Chassagne-Montrachet and Saint-Aubin, these are some of the most pure, mineral whites in the Côte de Beaune, rivalling Moreau’s efforts as the very best in this neck of the woods.

Obsessively focused on the minutest of details, full biodynamics are in operation here, with minimal sulphur use, very little new oak in play and no filtration at all. This may be a fairly new Domaine onto the scene, but they have rocketed right into the top echelon of quality and we have again taken everything we can get our hands on in 2019, which unfortunately is unlikely to be enough to go around given the vintage’s low volumes plus skyrocketing demand for this estate’s wines.

A Domaine often thought of for producing big, powerful Chambolle-Musigny has, based on our more recent tastings of their wares, produced a selection of wines we feel are perhaps more typical of the appellation; really very charming, precise and elegant. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the critics either, with William Kelley noting that “given the level of quality now being attained at this address, to say nothing of its enviable palette of appellations, readers should take notice.”

Dominique Leguen has been in charge since 1998 and has enough experience not to have been phased by the unusually hot and dry conditions in 2019. He attributes his Domaine’s success in this vintage to tasting the berries to know when to harvest rather than relying on technical analyses alone and then using a gentle extraction when the grapes arrived at the winery.

We have spent the last few years repeating the fact that Domaine Chartron has seen a steep rise in quality over the last decade or two and that sooner or later everyone would notice… but now that time may have come. William Kelley calls this estate “an excellent source of pure and precise Puligny that deserves more recognition”, while Neal Martin calls the wines “now unquestionably superior” to those produced in the late 1990s.

Not able to visit the estate as usual this autumn, as luck would have it we were able to taste some very young 2019 samples the year before, the intensity and purity of the wines standing out. Neal Martin did squeeze in a trip between lockdowns this year though, reporting that Chartron’s developing 2019s are “nervy and minimalist in their youth, quintessential Puligny-Montrachet with malic notes at their core, despite 2019’s warmth.” He added that “Chartron’s wines remain reasonably priced in the scheme of things and are well worth seeking out.”

Jean Monnier is a producer who leaves us scratching our heads more so than any other, for a number of reasons. First of all, the quality of the wines are superb. It is absolutely crazy how inexpensive they are given the quality, but the owner is so down to earth and is perhaps very fortunate with the plots he has. He seems to have no desire to charge more than he does.

How more merchants have not jumped on this producer is beyond us. Maybe they just don’t know this tucked away Meursault Domaine? Monnier’s is a style which complements our range very well at prices that are hard to argue with. This seventh generation family Domaine own 100% of the fruit they use and it is all hand harvested. The wines are lovely and they really are very difficult to beat when it comes to value for money.

Stylistically they very much appeal to us given they are more refreshing, with higher acidity. A perfect partner for food, although given the style we think would be lovely to enjoy on a warm summer day. The only thing not to like was the label design, but even that has now been given a smart new makeover, making these wines the complete package!

Trying to unearth exciting undiscovered producers in the Côte d’Or can be tricky. Trying to do so in Vosne-Romanée, two doors from Domaine Leroy no less, is more audacious still! Yet, here we have a branch of the famous Noëllat dynasty whose focus so far has been on the domestic market, with little effort put into promoting the wines outside of France. This is where we step in.

Following on from a very well received debut vintage on our list last year, Michel Noëllat’s 2019s was once again highly appealing. Precise, perfumed and with a touch of oriental spice, all wrapped in silky tannins, these wines are hedonistic while retaining classic structures; somewhat reminiscent stylistically of Domaine Grivot.

Many Côte Chalonnaise producers can fall into a vicious circle of making and then pricing their wines to a level below that of the famous villages of the Côte d’Or. There are however a handful of estates that break this trend, treating the region’s terroirs with the same respect, care and attention afforded by the best producers in the neighbouring region to the North, yet still releasing them at appealing prices. Called “one of the Côte Chalonnaise’s finest estates” by William Kelley, Neal Martin notes that “Tupinier-Bautista has long been one of my favourite Côte Chalonnaise producers” and it was these ringing endorsements that led us to Tupinier-Bautista’s door.

A good notch above almost everything else we have tasted from this neck of the woods, Tupinier-Bautista gives a taste of just how good Mercurey has the potential to be, but also an opportunity to secure some more wallet-friendly alternatives to the Côte d’Or’s big names, while still enjoying a wine lavished with the utmost care and attention.

By common consent of most Burgundy followers, quality at Domaine de la Vougeraie was lifted to a significant degree during the tenure of head winemaker Pierre Vincent. 2017 though was the first vintage since his departure and the big question was whether the winemaking team, now led by the delightfully enthusiastic Sylvie Poillot, had learnt sufficiently from the master to simply pick up the baton and run. Based on the evidence of the vintage since, the answer is a most definite yes! The sheer attention to detail required in the vineyard to commit to biodynamic wine production means every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ crossed, no short cut is taken and this level of precision makes for impeccable quality fruit.

Neal Martin calls Domaine de la Voiugeraie’s 2019 line up “a good set of wines .” The reds in particular show a wonderful balance between structure and primary fruit, helped by the partial inclusion of whole bunches in the vat, varying between 30 and 50% depending on the wine. What’s more, they are vibrant, intense and packed with the required stuffing to age. Vincent’s winemaking magic shows no signs of disappearing, even after the man himself is no longer on the scene.

While there is no doubt that whole bunch fermentation is in fashion currently, here is an estate that uses none at all, yet which makes utterly delicious, appealing wines. New oak is used only minimally too and the net result of these factors, plus a focus on organic farming and minimal interventional winemaking makes for a selection that is fresh, elegant and expressive of the wines’ various terroirs.

Winemaking here is in its seventh generation with the incumbent Romain Taupenot and his hand on the tiller has really seen this estate rise through the ranks, not necessarily yet noticed by all. As Neal Martin puts it, this is “a domaine where quality has dramatically improved in recent years – as I keep telling anyone that will listen”, adding “these 2019s from Taupenot-Merme continue their strong run of form.”

New to our radar last year, brothers David and Arnaud Lavantureux took over from their parents Roland and Brigitte in 2010, becoming the third generation of winemakers at this Chablis estate. Their philosophy is one of fully expressing the differences between different terroirs and vintages, while making “intense Chablis with richness and complexity”.

Based on our tasting of their 2018s and 2019s, it has to be said that they fully deliver on these promises. Intense and concentrated, while not losing any of that essential Chablis minerality, these wines were absolute winners and ones we are delighted to bring to our range for the first time in this vintage.

Olivier Lamy is a man obsessed by his craft, forever looking for new ways to improve quality, be that by using ultra-high density planting, or by meticulous leaf management during the growing season in order to minimise sunburn risk for the grapes. Listening to him rattle through the minutiae of the vintage at 100 miles per hour is a real education into exactly how his wines turn out as good as they do.

Acknowledged by his peers as one of the most inspiring white winemakers in the Côte de Beaune (“meticulous and thoughtful viticulture, a source of inspiration for other vignerons up and down the Côte” according to William Kelley), Lamy’s 2019s are, as Neal Martin puts it, “an exemplary showcase of Saint-Aubin’s terroirs, his white infused with compelling salinity and drive.”

Domaine Jean Chauvenet are Nuits-St-Georges specialists. Not only do they specialise in this particular village, but more specifically they focus on wines of real approachability and friendliness. Red fruits predominate and while the long-term ageing potential is certainly less than at the likes of Gouges, that is no bad thing for those looking to drink and enjoy their Nuits in the first three or four years of its life, especially given the quality on offer for the price.

The 2019 vintage really suits this Domaine’s style, with the growing season’s natural richness amplifying the naturally outgoing style of the wines. The extraction levels seem high, but have not gone too far, so the resultant wines are assertive, have big tannins and are packed full of flavour.

A new addition to our range in 2019 and a very welcome one indeed. While we are delighted to offer the wines of Domaines Bernard Moreau and Joseph Colin in Chassagne, there is never anywhere near enough produced each year to satisfy demand. For this reason, we have been on the lookout for a new producer to join our ranks for the last couple of years, none quite managing to tick all the necessary boxes until now.

Domaine Philippe Colin is based in a modern winery in Chassagne-Montrachet, crafting a range that is very well received by the critics while spanning the whole spectrum from a great value Bourgogne Blanc to a stellar Chevalier-Montrachet. The house style is one of elegance, with new oak use minimised so as better to better allow the wines to express their origins. If you are yet to experience the charms of Philippe Colin do not hesitate to dive in in 2019!