Tag Archives: Bâtard-Montrachet

Keeping Up With The Joneses of Burgundy — Girardin Edition

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Wine Knowledge

Published on January 25, 2019

For this installment of Keeping Up With The Joneses, we’re looking at the various Girardin estates based in the Côte de Beaune. We’re going to give them the same treatment that we did exploring the Leflaive, Coche, Boillot, Gros and Morey family connections.

A village-level Chassagne-Montrachet from Vincent Girardin.

Our primary tools for this sleuthing include:

Remington Norman and Charles Taylor’s The Great Domaines of Burgundy
Clive Coates’ The Wines of Burgundy
Clive Coates’ Côte D’Or: A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy
Matt Kramer’s Making Sense of Burgundy
Bill Nanson’s The Finest Wines of Burgundy
Benjamin Lewin’s Burgundy (Guides to Wines and Top Vineyards)

While some of these books are getting pricier as they fall out of print, several of them are still available used from Amazon for $8-40. They are well worth the investment for budding Burgundy geeks.

One other book that I’ve been lusting to add to my collection is Jasper Morris’ Inside Burgundy. Morris recently did a fantastic interview with Levi Dalton where he noted that the 2nd edition of Inside Burgundy is on the horizon.

I hope that the release of that new edition will mean used copies of the original become a little more affordable. From everything I’ve heard, this 656-page tome is an exceptional resource.

But with that, let’s dive into the story of the Girardins.

The Girardin Family

The Girardin family has been in Burgundy since at least 1570. However, their modern winemaking history dates to the 20th century.

After World War II, Jean Girardin founded his eponymous estate in the village of Santenay. Not long after, Armand Girardin took over his family’s domaine in the northern part of the Côte de Beaune in Pommard. Unfortunately, I couldn’t determine the exact relationship between the two men. For the rest of this article, I will consider Jean the patriarch of the Santenay branch of Girardins and Armand the head of the Pommard branch.

Jean would continue to grow his domaine with the acquisition of additional parcels, including Château de la Charrière. Following his retirement in 1981-1982, he divided his holdings among his four children with his three sons, Yves, Vincent and Jacques, each receiving 3 hectares and starting their own domaines.

Vincent has been the most prominent member of the family, starting a negociant firm to go along with his estate vineyards.

A few mysteries.

A stone cross marks the entrance of the Pommard premier cru vineyard Les Rugiens.
Aleth Girardin’s great-grandfather planted vines here in 1906 that she still tends to today.

Armand’s daughter Aleth began taking over her family’s estate in the late 1970s and then completely in 1995.

I did find one noticeable discrepancy in my research on this domaine. Remington Norman and Charles Taylor’s profile of Aleth in The Great Domaines of Burgundy list her parents as Henri and Hélène Girardin.

However, the vast majority of resources describe Aleth as the daughter of Armand, a former mayor of Pommard. Apart from websites copying Norman and Taylor’s blurb, the only reference I could find to a Domaine Henri Girardin is a 2001 newsletter with a tasting note for a 1990 Pommard Les Grands Epenots Premier Cru.

I’m curious if Henri is perhaps another child of Armand and a sibling to Aleth? Or it could be an earlier ancestor with Aleth’s website noting that her family has been in Pommard for at least six generations. I found several references to her great-grandfather (but no name) planting some of the parcels in Rugiens back in 1906.

Another mystery comes from Clive Coates’ The Wines of Burgundy. Here he lists Dominique and Anne-Marie Piguet-Girardin as growers in Auxey-Duresses with no other details. Their relationship to either branch of the Girardins has not been easy to determine. Allen Meadows of Burghound has tasting notes for a 1993 and 1999 Santenay Premier Cru La Comme made by Domaine Piguet-Girardin. It is possible that this could be related to the 4th child of Jean Girardin. However, I could not confirm that through my research.

Girardin family tree

Current Girardin Estates

Domaine Aleth Girardin (Pommard)

In 1988, Aleth married actor Michel Le Royer. When she took over her family’s domaine in the mid-1990s, she started bottling several of her wines as a Domaine Le Royer-Girardin. When they divorced some years later, Aleth changed the estate name to its current incarnation.

Prime holdings: Pommard 1er cru Les Epenots (0.53 ha), Pommard 1er cru Les Rugiens (0.41 ha), Beaune 1er cru Clos des Mouches (0.35 ha)

Domaine Vincent Girardin (Meursault)

After founding his estate in 1982 when he was just 18, Vincent Girardin moved his domaine to Meursault in 1994. That same year, he founded his negociant firm, Maison Vincent Girardin. The success of his negociant operation gave him the income to expand his vineyard holdings significantly with the purchase of many of Domaine Henri Clerc’s parcels.

In 2010, Vincent and Véronique Girardin expanded into Beaujolais with their acquisition of La Tour du Bief in Chénas. Today, 80% of Girardin’s production is white wine with around 300,000 bottles produced from their Côte d’Or holdings and another 200,000 produced at their Beaujolais estate. Since 2007, Girardin has farmed his estate parcels biodynamically.

Prime holdings: Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (0.46 ha), Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (0.18 ha), Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru (0.18 ha)

Domaine Yves Girardin (Santenay)

A bottle of village-level Chassagne-Montrachet made by Yves Girardin bottled under the Château de la Charrière label.

Yves has expand his domaine with vineyard holdings in Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet and Pommard. Today he farms around 21.50 ha with his son, Benoît. Before joining the family domaine, Benoit spent some time working in Bordeaux as well as at other Burgundian estates. In 2003, Yves Girardin reacquired Château de la Charrière and produces wine under that label.

Prime holdings: Beaune 1er cru Clos des Vignes Franches, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Clos St. Jean (Chardonnay), Santenay 1er cru Les Gravières

Domaine Jacques Girardin (Santenay)

In addition to his inherited parcels, Jacques and his wife Valérie have added holdings from Savigny-lès-Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet and Pommard. In 2012, management of the domaine passed on to their son, Justin. After taking over, he has been steadily converting the domaine to organic viticulture.

Prime holdings: Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Morgeot (Chardonnay and 0.17 ha Pinot noir), Santenay 1er cru Clos du Rousseau (1.92 ha), Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er cru Les Peuillets (0.53 ha)

Domaine Justin Girardin (Santenay)

Since 2015, Justin has been bottling more wine under his own name while still managing his father’s estate.

Prime holdings: Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Morgeot (Chardonnay and 0.17 ha Pinot noir), Santenay 1er Cru Beauregard (0.93 ha) and Santenay 1 er Cru Maladière (0.66 ha)

Additional Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy

The Boillot Familly
The Morey Family
The Gros Family
The Coche Family
The Leflaive Family

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Keeping Up With The Joneses of Burgundy — Leflaive Edition

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Wine Knowledge

Published on September 3, 2018

Egg monument in Bâtard-Montrachet erected by Anne-Claude Leflaive of Domaine Leflaive.

After examining the family tree and connections of the Coche, Boillot, Gros and Morey families, we now turn our attention to the Leflaives of Puligny-Montrachet.

Tradition and the remnants of Napoleonic inheritance laws often mean that many estates in Burgundy share similar names. This can add to the confusion and complexity of studying the region so for this series we try our best to untangle a bit of that web–one family tree at a time.

Aiding our endeavor will be my trusty hoard of Burgundy wine books including:

Remington Norman and Charles Taylor’s The Great Domaines of Burgundy
Clive Coates’ The Wines of Burgundy
Matt Kramer’s Making Sense of Burgundy
Bill Nanson’s The Finest Wines of Burgundy
Benjamin Lewin’s Burgundy (Guides to Wines and Top Vineyards)

A new addition to that list which has been used heavily for this post is Clive Coates’ work Côte D’Or: A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy. While older than Coates’ Wines of Burgundy (1997 vs 2008) I’ve found that the two books compliment each other really well with Côte D’Or offering more historical details and family connections while Wines of Burgundy fills in the gap for newer estates.

If you know of any other great resources on Burgundy wine and the various connections between estates, leave a note in the comments!

Now let’s take a look at the Leflaives.

The Leflaive Family

The Leflaive family’s history in the Côte de Beaune region dates back to at least 1580 when a Marc Le Flayve lived in the hamlet of Cissey between Beaune and Puligny-Montrachet. Following the marriage of Le Flayve’s great-great-great grandson, Claude Leflaive, to Nicole Vallée in 1717 the Leflaive family moved to Puligny-Montrachet.

The Grand Cru vineyard of Bâtard-Montrachet has always been at the heart of the Leflaive family’s holdings.

It was the son of this Leflaive, also named Claude, who acquired a choice 5 ha (12.4 acres) plot of Bâtard-Montrachet that was divided among his five children on his death in 1835. Seventy years later, his great-grandson Joseph Leflaive founded what is now known as Domaine Leflaive in 1905.

A marine engineer by training, prior to devoting himself full-time to winemaking, Leflaive helped construct the first French-made submarine.

Starting with just 2 ha (5 acres) of vines, Joseph Leflaive greatly expanded the domaine over the next couple decades–often buying up vineyards that hadn’t recovered financially from the dual troubles of oidium and phylloxera from the last century. In the 1930s, the domaine was one of the first to regularly export their own bottlings to the United States. Following Joseph’s death in 1953, his children (Joseph Régis, Jeanne, Anne and Vincent) decided to keep their shares of the domaine together.

Joseph and Vincent were the first to actively manage the estate. They were soon joined by winemaker Jean Virot who worked at the domaine until his retirement in 1989. When Joseph passed in 1982, his son Olivier took his place managing the family’s domaine. When Vincent retired in 1990, his daughter Anne-Claude joined Olivier at the domaine.

Following Virot’s retirement, Pierre Morey (of Morey family fame) became régisseur, or winemaking director, a position he would hold until his own retirement in 2008. He was succeeded at Domaine Leflaive by Eric Rémy.

Disagreements between Olivier and Anne-Claude Leflaive eventually led to a separation in 1994 with Anne-Claude maintaining sole management of Domaine Leflaive and Olivier leaving to focus on his own Maison Olivier Leflaive. Following Anne-Claude’s death in 2015, Brice de La Morandiere (son of Joseph Régis’ daughter Marilys) assumed management of the family’s domaine.

Current Leflaive Estates

Domaine Leflaive (Puligny-Montrachet) founded in 1905 by Joseph Leflaive and today ran by his great-grandson Brice de La Morandiere. With around 25 ha (61.8 acres), Domaine Leflaive is the single largest producer of Grand and Premier cru quality wines in Puligny-Montrachet. In the 1990s, with the aide of consultants François Brochet and Claude Bourguignon, Anne-Claude Leflaive led the estate to a complete conversion to biodynamic viticulture.

The Grand Cru vineyard of Chevalier Montrachet. In many years Domaine Leflaive’s example from this vineyard will rival the Le Montrachet wines from other producers.

Prime holdings: Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (1.91 ha), Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (1.15 ha), Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru (1.99 ha) and Le Clavoillon Premier Cru (4.79 ha–around 80% of the 1er cru)

Maison Olivier Leflaive (Puligny-Montrachet) founded in 1984 by Olivier Leflaive with his brother, Patrick Leflaive, as a negociant firm that now controls 17 ha (42 acres) of vineyards. In addition to their own vineyards, the Maison also has contracts with growers tending to more than 100 additional hectares in Chablis, Côte de Beaune and Côte Chalonnaise. Jean-Marc Boillot (of Boillot family fame) was the estate’s first winemaker but since 1988 those duties have been carried out by Franck Grux. In 2015, the Maison’s interest extended to Champagne with a partnership with Erick de Sousa to make Champagne Valentin Leflaive.

Prime holdings: Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Meursault Premier Cru Les Poruzots, Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Chaumées

Additional Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy

The Boillot Familly
The Morey Family
The Gros Family
The Coche Family

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Keeping Up With The Joneses of Burgundy — Coche Edition

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Wine Knowledge

Published on April 20, 2018

Vineyards in Meursault, home to many of the Coche family’s prime holdings.

Welcome to the latest installment of my on-going series about the winemaking families of Burgundy!

Be sure sure to check out previous editions about the Boillot, Morey and Gros families.

If you have any suggestions for future editions (or know anything I missed!), feel free to leave a comment below.

Along with some internet sleuthing, my tools on this journey will be:

The Coche Family

Photo by e_calamar. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-2.0

Through Léon’s grand daughter, some of the Coche family holdings are now in the hands of Domaine Roulot.

In the 1920s, Léon Coche started his domain after acquiring six parcels in Meursault, Auxey-Duresses and Monthélie. While he did some estate bottling, most of his grapes were sold to négociants. On his passing, the estate was inherited by his 3 children–Julien (who already had founded his own estate in 1940), Georges and Marthe. Georges took over his share of the family estate in 1964 and expanded his holdings with parcels in the Volnay Premier Crus of Clos des Chênes and Les Taillepieds.

Georges’ son, Jean-François Coche, assumed the domain in 1972 and appended the maiden name of his wife, Odile Dury, in 1975. In his nearly 40 years at the helm, Jean-François elevated Domaine Coche-Dury to “cult wine” level. Along with Comtes Lafon, Jancis Robinson describes the estate as one of “Masters of Meursault”. In 2010, Jean-François’ son Raphael took over the family domain as the fourth generation of Coche.

The inheritance of Léon’s daughter, Marthe, eventually passed to her daughter Geneviève who married Guy Roulot of Domaine Roulot. That estate is now ran by their son, Jean-Marc Roulot.

Julien’s Branch

In 1940, Julien Coche founded Domaine Julien Coche-Debord with just a single hectare in Meursault. The estate was expanded with some of his inheritance from his father Léon and was further enlarged when his son, Alain, took over added several notable Meursault premier crus like Les Charmes and La Goutte d’Or. Alain also changed the name to Domaine Coche-Bizouard et Fils.

Alain’s son Fabien joined the family estate in 1991 and started a négociant firm (Maison Coche-Bouillot) in 2001. Up through at least the 2013 vintage, wines have been produced under the label Domaine Alain Coche-Bizouard but now the estate is known as Domaine Fabien Coche à Meursault.

Current Coche Estates

Domaine Fabien Coche à Meursault/Maison Coche-Bouillot (Meursault) The estate formerly known as Domaine Coche-Bizouard et Fil and the négociant firm of Alain’s son Fabien. In addition to their holdings in Meursault, the estate also owns parcels in Auxey-Duresses, Monthélie and Pommard. The entire estate produces around 50,000 bottles.

Prime holdings: Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Meursault Premier Cru Les Charmes (0.28 ha), Pommard Premier Cru La Platière (0.20 ha)

Domaine Coche-Dury (Meursault) Ran today by Raphael Coche, son of the legendary winemaker Jean-François Coche. The estate bottles more than 70% of its holding. Négociants like Louis Latour and Louis Jadot often purchase the rest. The winery farms the estate’s holdings sustainably with an annual production of around 50,000 bottles.

Prime holdings: Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru (0.34 ha), Meursault Premier Cru Les Perriéres (0.23 ha and 0.37 ha in Les Perriéres-Dessus), Meursault Premier Cru Les Genevriéres (0.20 ha)

Additional Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy

The Boillot Familly
The Morey Family
The Gros Family
The Leflaive Family

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Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy — Morey Edition

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Wine Knowledge

Published on February 20, 2018

As with our first edition featuring the Boillot family, we’re going to explore the many Morey estates in Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet, trying to dissect the tangled weave of similar names to see how the estates may (or may not) be related.

Along with some Google-Foo, my scalpels on this journey will be:

The Morey Family

The Morey family’s history in Burgundy dates back to at least the 16th century with evidence of winemaking in Meursault since 1793. The history in Chassagne-Montrachet dates back to Claude Morey’s arrival from the village of Paris l’Hôpital in 1643.

In 1950, Albert Morey (father of Jean-Marc and Bernard) was one of the first estates in Chassagne-Montrachet to domaine bottle.

Robert Parker has noted in Burgundy: A Comprehensive Guide to the Producers, Appellations, and Wines, that the Morey family name is well regarded in Burgundy for producing “…very good, sometimes excellent white wines.”

In studying the various Morey domaines, the family’s prominence in the Grand Cru vineyard of Bâtard-Montrachet is apparent with several members producing examples. Most of the Morey Bâtards come from tiny holdings averaging only around 0.11 hectare (≈ 0.27 acres). Domaine Pierre Morey owns the largest amount with nearly half a hectare. Meanwhile, Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey contracts with multiple growers in the Grand Cru to expand his production.

The Current Morey Estates

Domaine Pierre Morey (Meursault)

Founded in 1971 by Pierre Morey, son of Auguste Morey, who farmed several parcels for Domaine Comte Lafon under métayage agreement. For two decades, Pierre also served as vineyard and winery manager for Domaine Leflaive. During this time he was inspired to convert his estate to organic viticulture in 1992 and biodynamic in 1997.
Prime holdings: Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (0.48 ha); Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières (0.52 ha); Pommard 1er Cru Les Grand Epenots (0.43 ha)

Domaine Emile Jobard-Morey (Meursault)

Tiny 4.5 ha domaine ran by Rémy Ehret, son-in-law of the original owners, and Valentin Jobard. The vineyards are farmed using sustainable viticulture. Unfortunately not much information is available about this estate to decipher the connection to the other Moreys or to estates like Domaine Antoine Jobard.
Prime holdings: Meursault 1er Cru Charmes (parcel just below Les Perrières); Meursault 1er Cru Le Porusot

Domaine Jean-Marc Morey (Chassagne-Montrachet)

Founded in 1981 by Jean-Marc after the retirement of his father, Albert Morey, with his father’s holdings divided between Jean-Marc and his brother Bernard (Thomas & Vincent’s father). For almost two decades his daughter, Caroline, has helped him manage the property with his son, Sylvain, running Bastide du Claux in the Luberon.
Prime holdings: St. Aubin 1er Cru Les Charmois (0.40 ha); Beaune 1er Cru Grèves rouge & blanc (0.65 ha); Chassagne-Montrachet Les Champs Gains rouge & blanc (0.77 ha)

Domaine Marc Morey et Fils (Chassagne-Montrachet)

Founded in 1919 by Marc’s father Fernand Morey with Marc taking over the family estate in 1944. In 1978, the estate was divided between his two children. His son, Michael, took his share to establish Domaine Morey-Coffinet. His daughter, Marie-Joseph, and her husband Bernard Mollard used their holdings to continue Domaine Marc Morey. Today, their daughter Sabine runs the estate. All the vineyards are farmed sustainably.
Prime holdings: Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (0.14 ha); Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets (0.20); quasi-monopole of Chassagne-Montrachet 1er En Virondot (2.02 ha) with the domaine buying the remaining 0.1 ha from other growers

Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey (Chassagne-Montrachet)

Founded in 2001 as a négociant firm by Pierre-Yves Colin (son of Marc Colin in St. Aubin) and Caroline Morey, daughter of Jean-Marc Morey. The first solo vintage of estate fruit was in 2006. Prior to returning to his father’s estate in 1995, Pierre-Yves spent time working in California at estates like Chalk Hill. Additionally he worked harvests in the Loire and Rhone. Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey farm their vineyards sustainably with some hectares farmed completely organic.
Prime holdings: Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes (0.40 ha); Purchase contracts for Grand Crus Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, Corton-Charlemagne and Bâtard-Montrachet

Caroline Morey’s Chassagne-Montrachet Le Chêne

Domaine Caroline Morey (Chassagne-Montrachet)

Founded in 2014 by Caroline Morey, daughter of Jean-Marc Morey and wife of Pierre-Yves Colin. The domaine owns 7 ha inherited from Caroline’s father in Chassagne-Montrachet and Santenay.
Prime holdings: Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets (0.75 ha); Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champ Gains

Domaine Thomas Morey (Chassagne-Montrachet)

Founded in 2006 when the estate of Bernard Morey (Jean-Marc’s brother) was divided between his sons, Thomas and Vincent. The estate focus on red Pinot noir is unique among the Moreys. All the vineyards are farmed sustainably.
Prime holdings: Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (0.10 ha); Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Vide-Bourse (0.20 ha located just below Bâtard-Montrachet); Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Dent de Chien (0.07 ha located just about Le Montrachet)

Domaine Vincent et Sophie Morey (Chassagne-Montrachet)

Founded in 2006 when Vincent inherited his share of his father’s estate. His wife Sophie is from the notable Belland family in Santenay . Their marriage brought around 12 ha to the domaine. All vineyards are sustainably farmed.
Prime holdings: Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (0.10 ha); Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embrazées (3.80 ha); Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets (0.35 ha)

Domaine Morey-Coffinet (Chassagne-Montrachet)

Founded in 1978 when Michael Morey, son of Marc, combined his inheritance with that of his wife, Fabienne (daughter of Fernand Coffinet and Cécile Pillot). The other part of Domaine Coffinet went to Fabienne’s sister, Laure, who founded Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay. The estate has been practicing organic cultivation (receiving Ecocert in 2015) and is converting over to biodynamic.
Prime holdings: Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru (0.13 ha); Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly (0.35 ha located next to Chevalier-Montrachet); Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Blanchots-Dessus (0.06 ha the southern extension of Le Montrachet)

Additional Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy

The Boillot Familly
The Gros Family
The Coche Family
The Leflaive Family