Tag Archives: The Finest Wines of Burgundy

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

Subscribe to Spitbucket

Amazon Prime Day Deals — Anything worthwhile for wine lovers?

Amber LeBeau in Geek Notes, General

Published on July 16, 2018

Today is Amazon Prime Day, a day that Amazon claims rivals Black Friday and Cyber Monday for buyers looking to get a good deal.

While there are some interesting buys, I’ve found that the pickings are often slim on deals targeting wine lovers.

Still it’s always worth taking a look to see if anything catches our eyes.

Oster Cordless Electric Wine Bottle Opener with Foil Cutter– Regularly $19.99, today $14.39 for Prime Members.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of electric bottle openers–preferring my old trusty double-hinged corkscrew or Rabbit-lever openers. My biggest complaint is how easy the electric bottle openers seem to burn out after a year or two of use. But for less than $15, even getting a year of use might not be that bad. So while this will be a pass for me, I can see this being a decent buy–especially for senior citizens or folks with arthritis that may have difficulties with other openers.

Coravin Model Limited Edition Wine Preservation System– Regularly $349.95, today $174.95 for Prime Members.

I paid around $300 for my old Coravin Model 1000 system three years ago so I will say that this is a very good deal. If my current Coravin wasn’t working perfectly fine, I would be very tempted because even though you can get the cheaper Coravin Model 1 for $199.99, that is a distinctly cheaper, less solidly built version than the regular Coravin.

There is a lot of marketing hype around the Coravin so I will be upfront with some of my real world experiences using it. There is the caveat that potentially the newer models have improved some of my grievances.

Cons:

The author using her Coravin to pour a flight of white wines.

Unless you spring for the $70 kit with the “fast pour” needle, pouring from the Coravin is SLOW!!! You eventually learn some tricks like tilting the bottle upwards and getting the feel right with hitting the gas but it will still take nearly 30 seconds to get a 5 oz pour.

That doesn’t seem like a lot of time but it definitely feels longer while your standing there holding the bottle and waiting for it to finally fill the glass. Compound this with doing a tasting featuring multiple bottles and the time adds up.

The first pour is always a little gassy and “spritzy”. It blows off and won’t impact most wine drinkers but if you are like me and use the Coravin system to help with studying for blind tasting exams, it can throw you off at first.

It doesn’t preserve the wine no where near as long as the marketing hype says it would. Instead of several months or years, realistically I feel like I can get 5 to 7 weeks with reds and 3 to 4 weeks with whites before I start noticing a change in flavor. It’s not like the wine is immediately bad or tasting oxidized but I certainly notice a distinct change that seems to exponentially increase with each revisiting after that point.

Pros:

Will Clos Saint-Jacques go with black garlic and salume pizza?
Let’s find out!

Even with only a few weeks worth of preservation, the Coravin is still a great tool to help you get the most out of your wine enjoyment. Instead of having to feel like you need to finish a bottle within a day or two, you can stretch it out over several glasses for days/weeks.

With dinner you can have different wines with each course, creating your own version of The Somm Game. Want to test out various pairings? Knock yourself out and pour two different wines to see what works best. If you and your spouse can’t agree on what wine to have with dinner, you can each have whatever you like.

And, most importantly to me, it truly is invaluable as a study tool for tasting exams. Want to taste the terroir differences of the crus of Barolo? Explore what makes “mountain fruit” of Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain and Diamond Mountain so different than the Cabernet Sauvignon grown in the Stags Leap District and valley floor of Napa? You can spend several hundreds of dollars getting examples of these wines and then have to face a decision.

Do you have a big tasting party with friends and open them all at once?
Do you open them up one at a time, take your notes and then try to compare them after the fact?

OR

You can use the Coravin and pour samples of all the different wines you want to compare and contrast and then revisit that tasting several times over the next few weeks.

That, for me, has always been the Coravin’s strongest selling point and the area where I know this tool has saved me the most money.

It’s not really drinking alone if the cat is home stemless wine glass, 15 oz.(cat) – Laser Etched — Regular $14.99, today $11.99 for Prime Members.

Yeah, this is pretty much sums up the kind of offers that Prime Day has for wine lovers. I’ve never felt compelled to spend $12 for a silly engraved wine glass but if that is your thing, you do you.

$5 off print books priced $20 or more

This deal doesn’t work for used books sold by 3rd party sellers which how I buy the vast majority of my wine books.

Many of my favorite wine books that I use frequently on this blog, I bought used from Amazon and paid only a fraction of their asking price.

Old or new, I really don’t need an excuse to buy more wine books.

Clive Coates’ Grands Vins: The Finest Châteaux of Bordeaux and Their Wines — Regularly $63.97, available Used for less than $10. Fabulous details on the history of Bordeaux estates used frequently in my Bordeaux Futures series.

Bill Nanson’s The Finest Wines of Burgundy: A Guide to the Best Producers of the Côte D’Or and Their Wines — Regularly $29.26, available Used for less than $10. Very valuable in my Keeping Up with the Joneses of Burgundy series.

Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson’s The World Atlas of Wine, 7th Edition — Regularly $42.78, available Used for less than $10. Benchmark standard for wine maps.

Of course, for new releases there are not many used options so this coupon deal could be use for several of the titles featured in previous Geek Notes that are over $20.

From June— Practical Field Guide to Grape Growing and Vine Physiology by Daniel Schuster, Laura Bernini and Andrea Paoletti. $40

From March — Wine: A social and cultural history of the drink that changed our lives by Rod Phillips. $34.95 and Oregon Wine Country Stories: Decoding the Grape by Kenneth Friedenreich. $29.99 hardcover.

If you come across any deals that I missed, post them in the comments below.

Happy shopping!

Subscribe to Spitbucket

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

Subscribe to Spitbucket

Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy — Gros Edition

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Wine Knowledge

Published on April 3, 2018

Welcome to the third installment of my Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy series. Here we try to untangle the relationships between the many different Burgundy estates that share the same surname.

Photo by Jebulon. Released on Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0

Clos Vougeot. The Gros family first acquired parcels in this Grand Cru in 1920.

Click here for previous editions about the Boillot and Morey families.

My tools for this journey will include internet sleuthing as well as:

The Gros Family

Alphonse Gros, the patriarch of the Gros winemaking family, was born in 1804 in the village of Chaux located just north of Nuits-Saint-George. In 1830, he married Julie Latour of the notable Latour family and settled in the village of Vosne-Romanée. In 1860, Alphonse purchased what would become Clos des Réas. Today, this is a highly acclaimed premier cru vineyard that is a monopole of Alphonse’s descendant Michel Gros.

Alphonse and Julie had two children with their son, Louis Gustave, taking over the family’s estate. He changed the name to Domaine Gros-Guenaud to include his wife’s holdings. In 1882, he added 2 hectares (5 acres) of the Grand Cru Richebourg. During his time, Louis Gustave was an early adopter of domaine bottling for at least a portion of his production.

Expansion and Growth

The Richebourg Grand Cru of which several members of the Gros family still own parcels.

On his death, the estate passed to his son, Jules Gros, who married Jeanne Renaudot. He soon changed the name of the family domaine to Gros-Renaudot. In 1920, when the estate of Léonce Bocquet was available for sale, Domaine Gros-Renaudot purchased two parcels of Clos Vougeot in the desirable “Cuvée du Pape” section of the vast Grand Cru. A few years later the estate was able to acquire parts of the Grand Cru Échézeaux, including the highly regarded Les Grands Échézeaux.

When Jules and Jeanne’s son Louis inherited the estate in 1930, he changed the name to Domaine Louis Gros. He continued to add to the family’s holdings when neighboring parcels went up for sale.

Following the death of Louis Gros in 1951, his four children (François, Jean, Gustave and Colette) jointly ran the domaine until 1963 when the holdings were split up. François and Jean started their eponymous domaines while Gustave and Colette combined their inheritance to start Domaine Gros Frère et Soeur.

Today the many Gros estates are ran by the sixth generation of Gros–Anne (François’ daughter), Michel (Jean’s son), Anne-Françoise (Jean’s daughter) and Bernard (Jean’s son). At estates like Domaine Gros Frère et Soeur and Domaine Anne-Françoise Gros, the seventh generation of the Gros family are taking on prominent roles in the family business.

Gros Family Tree

Current Gros Estates

Domaine Anne Gros (Vosne-Romanée)

By 1978, nearly all François Gros’ production was being sold to negociants as health problems had caused François to cut back. In 1988, Anne joined her father and renamed the estate Domaine Anne & François Gros with the focus returning to estate bottling. In 1995, the Domaine Anne & François Gros produced its last vintage. Anne assumed complete control of the estate, changing the name to its current incarnation. She is married to Jean-Paul Tollot, son of Jack Tollot of Domaine Tollot-Beaut in Chorey-Lès-Beaune.

Prime holdings: Clos Vougeot Grand Cru (0.93 ha), Échézeaux Grand Cru (0.76 ha) and Richebourg Grand Cru (0.60 ha).

Domaine Gros Frère et Soeur (Vosne-Romanée)

Founded in 1963 by brother and sister Gustave and Colette Gros. In 1980 they were joined by their nephew Bernard (son of Jean Gros and brother to Michel and Anne-Françoise) who took over the estate entirely in 1984 when Gustave died. Bernard and his son Vincent currently run the estate.
Prime holdings: Clos Vougeot Grand Cru (1.56 ha) of the Clos Vougeot-Musigni climat at the top of the vineyard–just beneath the Musigny slope, Les Grands Échézeaux Grand Cru (0.37 ha) and Richebourg Grand Cru (0.69 ha).

Photo by Olivier Vanpé. Released on Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-2.5

The village of Vosne-Romanée which is at the heart of the Gros family’s holdings.

Domaine Michel Gros (Vosne-Romanée)

Even after starting his estate in 1979, Michel worked closely with his father to run Domaine Jean Gros until Jean’s retirement in 1995. Today, Michel is the only member of the current generation of the family not to own a piece of Richebourg. Instead, he inherited the entire monopole of the Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Clos des Réas.
Prime holdings: Clos Vougeot Grand Cru (0.20 ha), Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulées (0.63 ha) and the monopole Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Clos des Réas (2.12 ha).

Domaine Anne-Françoise Gros (Pommard)

Anne-Françoise merged several of her holdings in 1988 with those of her husband, François Parent–brother of the owners of his family’s estate Domaine Parent. However, she bottles her parcel of Richebourg under her name as A-F Gros. Today the estate is run by their children, Caroline and Mathias.
Prime holdings: Échézeaux Grand Cru (0.28 ha), Richebourg Grand Cru (0.60 ha) and from the Parent holdings–Pommard 1er Cru Les Arvelets (0.31 ha)

Additional Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy

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

Subscribe to Spitbucket

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

Subscribe to Spitbucket

Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy — Boillot edition

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Wine Knowledge

Published on January 19, 2018

An oft repeated truism in the world of Burgundy is that you should buy based on the producer rather than the vineyard or classification. But this solid piece of advice becomes difficult to follow when you run into multiple bottles made by producers with similar names.

In many cases, these estates are related by blood or marriage which creates a tangled web for a Burgundy lover to untangle.

As part of my own studies, I’m going to try to untangle some of these webs–one common surname at a time. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions for additions or corrections in the comments.

My tools on this journey, besides the internet, will be:

We will start off with the Boillot family.

The Boillot family’s history of winemaking in Burgundy dates back to 1855 with the fifth generation of Boillots now running their eponymous estates. At several of these estates (like Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot and Domaine Henri Boillot) the sixth generation is working in the family business and preparing to take over.

In 1955, a conflict between Lucien Boillot and his father Henri lead to Lucien leaving his father’s estate, Domaine Henri Boillot, and starting his own winery. Henri’s other son, Jean, eventually took over Domaine Henri Boillot and renamed it Domaine Jean Boillot. Jean also married Colette Sauzet, daughter of the fame Puligny-Montrachet producer Etienne Sauzet.

Lucien had two sons, Louis and Pierre, with Louis starting his own estate in 2002 and Pierre inheriting control of Domaine Lucien Boillot et Fils.

Jean also had two sons, Jean-Marc and Henri, as well as a daughter, Jeanine, who married Gérard Boudot and now manages Domaine Sauzet. Jean-Marc started his own eponymous winery in 1989 while Henri started a négociant firm (Maison Henri Boillot) before eventually assuming what was left of Domaine Jean Boillot. To avoid confusion with his brother’s estate, he merged the holdings into his own domaine and changed the name back to Domaine Henri Boillot.

The Current Boillot Estates

Domaine Louis Boillot (Chambolle-Musigny)

Founded in 2002 when the estate of Lucien Boillot et Fils was split between Louis and his brother, Pierre. Louis is married to Ghislaine Barthod who runs her namesake estate in Chambolle-Musigny.
Prime holdings: Gevrey-Chambertain 1er Cru Champonnet (0.19 ha) and Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets (0.18 ha)

Domaine Lucien Boillot et Fils (Gevrey Chambertain)

Currently ran by Pierre.
Prime holdings: Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières (0.23 ha) and Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets (0.18 ha)

Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot (Pommard)

Founded in 1989. Prior to starting his own estate, Jean-Marc worked as a winemaker for Olivier Leflaive.
Prime holdings: Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champ Ganet (0.13 ha) and Les Combettes (0.47 ha)

Domaine Henri Boillot (Volnay)

Founded as a négociant firm in 1984. In 2005, Henri bought out his siblings shares of his father’s estate (Domaine Jean Boillot). He then merged the holdings into his own domaine.
Prime holdings: Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru (0.34 ha), Volnay 1er Cru Les Fermiets (2.4 ha) and monopole of Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère (3.99 ha) within Les Perrières

Additional Keeping up with the Joneses in Burgundy

The Morey Family
The Gros Family
The Coche Family
The Leflaive Family