The fragmentary nature of French inheritance laws is the reason that there exists today three domains named Gros in Vosne-Romanée.

Michel Gros was fortunate to inherit the famed monopole premier cru Clos des Réas, which yields wines of supreme finesse. Michel Gros may not be in all the top French guides, but the renowned critic Clives Coates, in his book The Wines of Burgundy, lists Michel Gros among the handful of rare three-star producers. Gros produces ample, well-textured wines, whose physiques are more sculptural than imposing.

Many of the most illustrious Burgundian winemakers avoid or ignore fads and fashion trends that characterize any given period in time. The greatest winemakers simply focus on perpetuating ancient methods of savoir-faire. What could be called their “style” (as recognizable as it can be) is in fact determined by two things: the simplicity of their approach and the meticulous quality of their work. Hubert Lignier is a vigneron of this caliber. He remains directly involved in the activities of the family estate, which is directed today by his son Laurent, who took over after his brother Romain’s tragic and premature death in 2003. The wines today are akin to those produced by the domain 20 or 30 years ago: chiseled, sumptuous pinot noirs crafted for lengthy bottle aging.
Domain Hubert Lignier is deeply important to us. They were among the first prestigious domaines of the Côte d’Or to have the confidence in Maitre de Chai to allow us to represent their wines in Quebec. Uncorking a bottle of Lignier from our cellar is always a grand occasion.
Romain Lignier was a true master of pinot noir. Our many meetings and tastings with him remain vivid in our memories, and we toast the courage of Laurent and Hubert who continue to carry the torch proudly.

After being completely seduced by the wines of Mugneret-Gibourg at the Grands Jours de Bourgogne, we began importing their wines starting with the 2006 vintage. Our own tasting placed them amongst the elite of the Côte de Nuits, despite what France’s wine guides of that era would’ve led us to believe. Are their recent vintages yielding better wines, or have critics simply become more receptive to them over the past few years? Either way, the current press review’s grants the Domaine its deserved status.
We are thrilled to see them finally earning such recognition. The sisters Marie-Christine and Marie-Andrée oversee all steps of the winemaking process, from tending the vineyards to bottling the final product. Here, aging the wines is a genuine art. Their use of oak is judicious, yielding tannins of exquisite grain. The wines are all about purity and elegance, with an undeniable femininity. The entire range is impeccable in every vintage. The wines are a true reflection of the sisters Mugneret, graceful and elegant.

The vineyards of Domaine Georges Noellat are primarily made up of premier and grand crus in Vosne Romanée and Nuits-Saint-Georges.

Their holdings are impressive as much for the lieux-dits as for the average age of their vines, several of which are century-old plots. For a number years, the wines were sold almost entirely to négociants, with a number of bottles sold under the domaine’s label for the benefit of a few loyal customers who made the annual pilgrimage to Vosne. Maxime Cheurlin, grandson of Maria Theresa Noellat and a recent graduate from the Lycée Viticole de Beaune, has been overseeing the winemaking since the 2010 vintage.
Maxime began his tenure by rethinking everything, from the work in the vineyard to that in the winery. His main ambition is to craft wines according to the same principles and work-ethic of the greatest Burgundians. With inspiration from neighbours like Jean-Nicolas Méo, Emmanuel Rouget and DRC, this talented youngster understands that achieving the greatest heights of pinot noir means making no compromises. His wines are genuine and opulent, supported by the nuance of oak that don’t mask in any way the character of their respective terroirs.
Without a doubt, Maxime Cheurlin and Domaine Georges Noellat are now among the stars of the Côte de Nuits.

The ambitious Christophe Perrot-Minot is meticulous in everything he does. The finesse and velvety texture in his recent vintages have undoubtedly raised the domaine to the highest ranks of the Côte de Nuits, as well-known Burgundian wine critics have testified. The emphasis on low yields, particularly so in recent vintages, as well as careful extractions and élevages have resulted in wines noteworthy for the exceptional purity of their fruit.
Based in Morey Saint-Denis, Domaine Henri Perrot-Minot has impressive holdings including, among other notable parcels, their Charmes-Chambertin, Chambertin Mazoyères, as well as several prestigious lieux-dits in Morey and Chambolle. With their acquisition of the domaine Pernin-Rossin in 2000, Christophe added plots in the communes of Nuits St Georges and Vosne-Romanée to his family’s vineyards, including the exceptional premier cru La Richemone in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and Les Beaux Monts in Vosne. The impressive range of wines is complemented with high-voltage négoce bottlings of grands cru Chambertin, Clos de Bèze, Chapelle Chambertin and Clos Vougeot.

The Lecheneaut brothers focus mainly on producing fine villages-level wines, from all the appellations in the Côte de Nuits, except Fixin. As a result, they are an ideal way of comparing appellations such as Marsannay, Gevrey, Morey, Chambolle, Vosne and Nuits. The wines are made ​​conscientiously, and the unremitting quality from vintage to vintage is steady as a metronome. They are elegantly oaked, making for pleasant drinking during the wines’ early years, and mellow beautifully after several years in a cellar.

Their cuvée Les Damodes, from Nuits-Saint-Georges, is always a favorite. A superb lieu-dit perched at the northern edge of Nuits (just above the premier cru Boudots, neighboring the Vosne premier cru Malconsorts), Les Damodes is split between premier cru vines and village vines. After producing just one label of village-level wine for many years, they now isolate the premier cru, and the grapes from the village-level vines of their vineyard now bonify the Nuits-St-Georges cuvée.

The estate produces one grand cru, Clos de la Roche. It famously received a perfect score of 100 from Wine Advocate with the 2002 vintage, and was touted by the Japanese manga The Drops of God. Unfortunately they vinify but one barrel per year.

Pierre Damoy’s vineyards occupy 10.5 hectares, including a whopping 8 hectares spread over of the grands crus Chambertin, Chambertin-Clos-de-Bèze, and Chapelle-Chambertin. For the past two decades, this domaine has been a source of exceptional wine, largely due to their unrelenting investments in both time and effort, both in the vineyard (where they keep yields low and seek to grow healthy grapes without any chemical additives) and in the cellar (where they rigorously sort the grapes and the élevages are overseen with great attention to detail).

Since we began selling wine in 1996, Le Maître de Chai has worked with Domaine René Bouvier.

Originally established in Marsannay, the domaine is now based in Gevrey, where it continues under the stewardship of Bernard Bouvier, René’s son. Owners of superb parcels in Marsannay, their holdings also include choice plots in Fixin and Gevrey. The range is rounded out by several négoce cuvees of premier crus and grand crus from the Côte de Nuits, made from purchased grapes that are both harvested and vinified by the domaine.
Bernard Bouvier is both an artisan and entrepreneur: he is genuinely curious, hardworking, charismatic and ambitious. His dynamic personality comes through in his wines. But he is also a superb communicator and has been an exceptional ambassador for the Côte d’Or.
The wines of the domaine used to have a reputation for their solid structure, but today they emphasize juiciness and suave textures, and all at very accessible prices! The increase in quality over the past few vintages is obvious for anyone who has tasted a Bouvier wine. With their gains in purity and elegance, this domaine has become a standard-bearer for Burgundy lovers.

Thibault Liger-Belair, based in Nuits St-Georges, is at the helm of a “young” historical domaine that he created in 2001, when he took over family vineyards that had long been contracted out to various share croppers. His cousin is the famous Vicomte Liger-Belair of Vosne Romanee, who represents the other branch in the Liger-Belair family tree.

A young winemaker, Thibault has risen rapidly to the upper echelons of Burgundy’s elite. His meteoric ascent is due in no small part to his impressive holdings, including Richebourg, Clos de Vougeot, and an over 2 hectare parcel of Les Saint-Georges, the most prestigious premiers cru in Nuits Saint-Georges. But the terroir isn’t responsible for everything: Thibault, it goes without saying, is a phenomenal vigneron.

He seeks more than anything to allow the expression of terroir in his wines, which is why all of his vineyards are farmed biodynamically. He also uses horses to plough his vineyards, whenever possible. Vineyard yields are drastically low, allowing him to focus on gentle extractions, with very little punching down or pumping over. For some cuvées, a certain amount of whole clusters are used. In recent vintages, he’s made significant progress and his wines are constantly improving in terms of definition and purity. The hard work of putting his fields back in order has started to pay dividends. The Domaine expanded to the Beuajolais in 2009 with the acquisition of vineyards in Moulin-à-Vent.