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.

At Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The pater familias, Jacky, is both a formidable vigneron as well as quite the character. His sons, Yves and Jean-Pierre, are now in charge of the keeping this domaine in the upper echelons of Burgundy. Confuron-Cotetidot is among the select few wineries to have been awarded three stars by Le Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France.
The wines are always vinified with whole clusters. How do we know? Ask them and they will respond simply: “we don’t own a destemmer.” This necessitate using the ripest grapes possible which involves an element of risk considering Burgundy’s testy Autumn climate. In any given vintage, the Confurons are always among the last to harvest. Very few new barrels are used, but the elevages are very long, and they are also amongst the last to bottle. The wines are robust and energetic, ideally built for the long haul. Aging accentuates their floral aromas and bestows a state of grace to their wines. These are grand wines from the “old school” tradition—in the best possible ways.
On a recent visit, our team inquired about the location of a lieu-dit called Les Treux, the source for most of the grapes used in their grand cru Échézeaux. Often criticized by “experts,” Yves took us for a walk in the vineyards of Vosne-Romanée. A quick visual survey was enough to reveal that the Échézeaux of Confuron-Cotetidot lie precisely at the intersection of Clos Vougeot, Grands Échézeaux and Échézeaux. It is indeed an exceptional vineyard which is proven in the consistent quality of the wine.