Marsannay, Burgundy, France
This estate has been in the Bouvier family for three generations. Since 1992, it has been run by Bernard Bouvier, and his wife Stéphanie. Henri Bouvier, Bernard’s grandfather, created the estate in 1910. Henri’s son, René Bouvier, took over in 1950 and extended the estate to an area of 29.65 acres (12 hectares) by 1991. The estate is fortunate enough to possess vines boasting an average of 50 years old, and some of the Gevrey-Chambertin plots feature vines that are over 80 years old. The estate is equipped with new, functional, modern buildings to ensure the most hygienic conditions, which were inaugurated with the 2006 harvest. All stages in the winemaking process, from grape-sorting to the finished wine, occur on the premises. The winery follows biodynamic principles and everything has been designed with the greatest respect for both grapes and wine.
Bernard Bouvier became aware very early on of the individual character of the wines from each “lieu-dit” (a specific site within a vineyard), regardless of vintage. Because of this, the estate seeks whenever possible to produce only one wine per plot, in order to reveal the best possible expression of terroir. The quest for purity of expression, well-balanced wine and minerality, highlighting the unique nature of each climat (plot of vines), guides each action in the pursuit of perfection from the vineyard to the wine cellar. Careful vineyard management is necessary to respect the soil, in order to preserve environmental harmony and biodiversity. The estate strictly limits production to ensure optimal ripeness by limiting each vine to no more than eight bunches of grapes. Production will vary slightly from one vintage to another. The grapes are hand-picked and collected in 20 kg boxes to ensure the grapes arrive at the winery in perfect condition. While the pickers select grapes carefully as they harvest them, upon reaching the winery, they are placed on a vibrating table to eliminate any undesirable material. They are then transferred to a sorting table to be hand-selected, thus retaining only the highest-quality grapes. This drastic selection procedure ensures excellent wine even in bad vintages. After destemming, the selected grapes fall into a container, which is emptied by gravity into the fermentation tanks. The great care taken when handling the grapes avoids the release of herbaceous tannins, allowing only silky, round tannins to develop in the wine.
For red wines, Pinot Noir is gently pressed, followed by fermentation for about 20 days, without the addition of any enzymes or yeasts, allowing nature to run its course. At controlled temperatures, the must is pumped over the cap and the cap is punched down, so that each “climat” can fully express its specificity, without any technological intervention that would erase the unique nature of the wine and the vintage. Then, the wine matures in carefully selected oak barrels, made from the best French oak, and toasted by the cooper to well-defined requirements in order to enhance each appellation. Red wine matures in a specific cellar featuring suitable temperatures and moisture levels for 16 to 18 months..