Domaine Agnès, Didier & Florent Dauvissat

Domaine Agnès & Didier Dauvissat was founded in 1986, and is based in the village of Beine at the eastern end of 1er Cru Beauroy. Agnès and Didier planted all their vineyard themselves. This amounts to around 10 ha now, made up of 3.5ha of Petit Chablis, planted on hard Portlandian limestone soils full of marine fossils on the plateau above Fyé, 4.5 hectares of Chablis planted in the villages of Courgis and Fyé, on south-facing slopes which are the southerly continuation of the slope of the Grands Crus, and finally a 2 ha plot or 1er cru Beauroy which is above the lake slightly toward the eastern side of the middle of this Premier Cru, and exposed to the south-west. The vines are now reaching full maturity and producing what is obviously some very high-quality fruit.

Florent, Agnès and Didier's son, has now joined the domaine and seems to be something of a wine-making talent - as Neal Martin wrote in his 2019/2020 Chablis report 'Could Florent Dauvissat be the next great winemaker to bear that famous surname?'. The wines are made in completely classical way, in stainless steel and aged on the lees for 12 months.

Domaine Denis Pommier

Founded when the Pommiers inherited 2 hectares of vines in 1990. Isabelle and Denis bottled their first wine in 1994 and now have 18 hectares of vineyards, which are run according to biodynamic principles (which have sadly cost them dearly in terms of lost crop in 2016 and 2017).

The Petit Chablis is a model of brisk freshness - made entirely in stainless steel. The two named 'lieu-dits' of Chablis 'village', Les Reinettes and Croix aux Moines, are about a hectare in total. It's a north-facing slope which catches the sun late in the day. Reinettes is on pure Kimmeridgian clay, under Croix au Moines, which is on a thinner soil at the top of the hill, both in the same sector as Côte de Léchet. The Premiers Crus benefit from a small amount of barrel-fermentation and élevage. The Troësmes (a small parcel within the larger premier cru 'Beauroy' which the Pommiers think deserves to be identified by its correct name) is relatively rounder, while the Côte de Léchet is the one for fans of the slatier, crystalline side of minerality. Keep either of the premiers crus four to six years.

Domaine Berthelemot

Domaine Berthelemot is the creation of Brigitte Berthelemot, who is, by all accounts, something of a tour de force. Brigitte has, in a very short space of time (starting in 2006), knocked together a domaine of 15 hectares, spread over 45 parcels.

The basis of this spread was Domaine Garaudet in Pommard, but then they also took over Domaine Allexant. Charles Allexant was a bouilleur de cru (distiller of marc) who went round the villages plying his trade and who knew the Côte well, and also the vignerons for whom he distilled. In 1957 he bought a first vineyard in Volnay, and others followed, so that he built up a patchwork from Gevrey to the Côte Chalonnaise.

The final piece of the jigsaw was the purchase of Domaine Marey in Pernand.

The vinification is overseen by Brigitte's son Thomas, after he worked alongside cellarmaster Marc Cugney (who has now retired) for a number of years. The reds are picked into small cases in which they are transported to the winery - and vinified in stainless steel after a 4 day cold maceration. Extraction is gentle and mostly by remontage. The wines then go into barrel with a maximum of 20% new wood. The whites are pressed, and after a short débourbage, are put in tank, where they begin their fermentation. Once the fermentation is under way, they are moved to barrel, with a maximum of 25% new wood.

The domaine is certified organic since the 2021 vintage

Domaine Fernand & Laurent Pillot

The origins of the Pillot family in Chassagne can be traced back to the eighteenth century, when they seem to have been coopers more than vignerons. In the nineteenth century they abandoned barrel-making in favour of enlarging the property in Chassagne. Fernand and Laurent, who is the fourth generation, added to it again in 1992, and then in 2001 Laurent's wife Marie-Anne inherited half of her family's property, the Pommard domaine of Pothier-Rieusset, and Laurent and his father bought the other half. The domaine now stands at 14.5 hectares of vines across almost the whole length of the Côte de Beaune from Santenay to Beaune.

The Domaine is worked according to organic principles and is ploughed – no chemical weedkillers are used. They have also been members of the Dephy-ECO-phyto group, which works to reduce the number of treatments using copper sulphate, since 2012. In 2021 they began the process of organic certification.

Laurent has always managed to pack in a lot alongside his running of the vineyard. He has his own plane which he flies to all corners of France, used keep and hunts hawks, and conducts the Chassagne brass band as well as dabbling in Mayoral duties - on top of being a father of three, Anaïs, Adrien and Eugène. They are all mad about the alps and disappear up the mountains at regular intervals.

Laurent's eldest son Adrien has been travelling the world making wine all over the place for the last few years having completed his training in Beaune. Bringing back lessons learnt in Australia, South Africa and California (and from a stint at Lea & Sandeman). During harvest Adrien is now the one in the winery while Laurent takes charge of the picking team. The wines have long been L&S favourites in both red and white - they represent excellent value, and they age very well too, despite being attractive young. The whites are precise and pure, and not lacking for body and generosity, while the reds are velvety and juicy, beautifully balanced even if drunk young on their expressive Pinot fruit. The domaine was rightfully heralded in Decanter Magazine as 'an address that deserves to be better-known'. Great value and real pleasure across their range.

We discussed Adrien's wish to do a longer élevage for the whites, but the problem that if you take the wines out of barrel that means keeping them in vats with floating tops, and they are not mad about the practicality of that. For now most are bottled after a year, but the Vide Bourse and Grandes Ruchottes will stay in barrel until the spring. They use little SO2 to begin with, gradually stabilising the levels once the wines are back in tank, and still finishing with low levels. They like ripe grapes: 'there's a kind of fashion to be the first to pick in Burgundy - they want to keep the freshness but all they get is acidity and tannin'. For the reds, they don't do massive extraction - 3 pigeages only in the middle of the fermentation, but they do a lot of pump-overs.

Adrien is now in the winery and Laurent orchestrates the picking. Adrien has already made some changes to the vinification and the quality here taking another step up.

Domaine Hubert Lamy

A domaine with 18.5 hectares of vines - 80% are Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir. The vines are spread over Saint-Aubin, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and Santenay. Olivier Lamy's wine-making style and preference is to emphasise the fresh and the mineral side of his wines, with limited new wood and that is with the wines in 600 litre demi-muids rather that the classic Burgundy (225 litre) fût.

Olivier has been unhappy about showing his wines too early, and since the 2020 vintage has decided to extend the ageing to two years or more for all the wines; he wants to wait until the wines are finished before showing them. From now on all his wines will be offered a year later than previously.

Domaine Rémi Jobard

Rémi has two vast presses, to enable him to press very slowly over six hours, and this has resulted in a big jump in finesse. The élevage now lasts nearly fifteen months, so as to allow the wines to develop slowly and to avoid fining. As a result these are wines which take a moment to show, but which reward the patient with complexity and great depth of flavour.

Rémi made a move from traditional barrels to foudres made of a mix of French, Austrian and Slavonian oak, constructed by Austrian cooper Stockinger, and having added a new one (or two) each year, there's barely a normal barrel left. He likes the way the wines develop in these large volumes, in which the 'oaking' effect is minimised.

We are again very excited about Rémi's two red wines this year, both of which are excellent.

Domaine Joseph Drouhin

Joseph Drouhin, founded in 1880 and still family owned, are one of the most well-respected names in Burgundy, especially through their flagship wine, the iconic Clos des Mouches.

A huge part of the Drouhin production comes from their own domaine fruit (78 hectares), and much of the rest comes from contracts such as that with the Marquis de Laguiche, who shook hands with the grandfather of the current generation, agreeing to let him manage his vineyards which included an important part of Le Montrachet; this collaboration endures. Today, the fourth generation is at the helm

Small refinements continue to be made here. The presses have been changed - a reversion to basket pressing for the reds, and for whites the presses are open - along with a number of other growers they are following the trend to think that slight oxidation of the juice before fermentation is not a problem and may add complexity as well as avoiding later problems of premature oxidation in bottle.

For the reds there has been the introduction of selective whole-bunch fermentation in the Côte de Nuits wines. The house style remains one that 'emphasises the natural elegance of great Burgundies' as they describe it. The domaine is all cultivated with an organic and biodynamic approach.

Thibault Liger-Belair Successeurs

Domaine Henri Boillot

Henri Boillot was in reflective mood when we visited in November - clearly moved by the wonderful 2022s that we tasted together but also mindful of the cellar brim-full with 2023s. He was at ease, and despite his busy schedule - 'I will receive friends from every corner of the world this month' had time to talk about everything from his Syrah themed Birthday party - (a washout incidentally, and Pinot soon took over!) his views on the shortcomings of some Clos wines compared to some Monopole sites. As ever his approach, steeped in history yet with a very open mind to finessing his craft, has made some stellar wines in 2022. The whites are layered, textured juicy and characterful - and Guillaume’s reds continue to improve every time we visit, they are a real triumph this year, tasting better than ever.

A domaine which dates back to 1885, but which began properly in the early years of the 20th century under the current Henri's grandfather (also Henri). His son, Jean, was the one who really developed it. Henri arrived in 1975 and worked his way up, becoming the winemaker. In 2000 he began the building of the new winery at the bottom of Meursault, and he then bought out his brother and sister to keep the domaine as one, renaming it from 'Domaine Jean Boillot' to 'Domaine Henri Boillot' to avoid confusion with his brother Jean-Marc's domaine.

After six years working alongside his father, Guillaume is the 'chef de culture', i.e. heads up the vineyard team, and has been entirely responsible for the vinification of the reds since 2012. Henri continues to make the whites which he likes to be 'straight, taut, precise, pure and elegant'. Guillaume's input has resulted in red wines that have gained in definition and energy, without losing the luxurious velvety richness and fruit depth that they have always had. From 2018 he expanded his use of vinification intégrale in which the reds are vinified in the barrels they will be aged in - the cellar being equipped with 140 barrels with stainless steel doors in the ends, all made of wood they bought for the purpose, which has been dried for three years. Labour-intensive and time-consuming though it is, Guillaume clearly believes it is the way to more precision in the wines, and the difference is noticeable.

The Domaine has roughly equal surfaces of red and white, and of which just under 4ha is the Monopole vineyard of Clos de la Mouchère, a walled enclave within the premier Cru Puligny Perrières. After the 2018 acquisition of small parcels in Latricières and Échezeaux, the Boillots bought the vineyards of Domaine Henri Darnat early in 2019, bringing in a new monopole Clos in Meursault, the Clos Richemont, part of 1er Cru les Cras.