Côte Chalonnaise: eight Givry producers to know
BARON THENARD
This classic, if idiosyncratic, estate merits more acclaim than it has received. For many years Thenard sold the bulk of its production to the négociant house Remoissenet, but this is no longer the case. The domaine owns a hefty 18ha in Givry and nearly 5ha in the Côte d’Or, including 1.83ha of Montrachet. The Givry holdings are primarily in premier cru sites, including the monopole Clos St-Pierre. The Pinot is destemmed and given a cold soak before fermentation in ancient open-top fermenters, then aged mainly in large foudres. The wines have a slightly rustic style but are eminently worth discovering. +33 (0)3 85 44 31 36
DOMAINE CHOFFLET
Founded in 1710, the Chofflet winery is located in Russilly, a hamlet tucked into the hills behind Givry. The domaine is directed by Jonathan Brunot, who farms a total of 14ha. The Pinot is destemmed and fermented on native yeasts in concrete vats before ageing with a modest proportion of new oak; the purity of the fruit in recent vintages has been encouraging.
DOMAINE DE LA FERTE
Owner of 6ha in Givry, including a hectare in premier cru Servoisine, next to Clos du Cellier aux Moines. The Ferté abbey monks once owned Servoisine, but the modern domaine was developed by Bertrand Devillard. Today it is directed by his children Amaury and Aurore. The family also owns Château de Chamirey in Mercurey, Domaine de la Garenne in the Mâconnais, Domaine des Perdrix in Nuits-StGeorges, and more recently was the lead partner in a joint acquisition of Domaine Rolet in the Jura. Domaine de la Ferté produces only red wine.
DOMAINE DU CELLIER AUX MOINES
The remaining buildings of Ferté abbey and 5ha of its vines were sold to Philippe Pascal and his family in 2004. The vineyards have been converted to organic production and are in conversion to biodynamics (certification expected in 2023), and have been replanted to Pinot Fin (an older biotype of Pinot Noir with small berries) and Très Fin propagated through massal selection (taking cuttings from existing
top-quality vines). Winemaking under cellarmaster Guillaume Marko has also evolved. The harvest is now mostly fermented as whole clusters and is bottled unfined and unfiltered. Pascal’s significant investment here has made the Cellier aux Moines one of the appellation’s stars.
DOMAINE DU CLOS SALOMON
The Clos Salomon is another historic Givry domaine, whose wines were served at the Papal court in the 14th century; the Clos has been owned by the du Gardin family since 1558. The family had a long history of métayeurs (sharecropping or tenant farming), but it has been managed directly by the du Gardin family for the past three generations, today by Ludovic du Gardin. The estate totals 9.6ha, with 7ha in its premier cru monopole Clos Salomon on the slopes west of the village. There is also a small production of premier cru white from La Grande Berge and some Montagny further south.
DOMAINE FRANCOIS LUMPP
Lumpp owns vineyards in some of Givry’s finest sites. He established the estate in the late 1970s with his brother Vincent, but the two parted ways in 1991. François and his wife Isabelle now own plots in the premiers crus Petit Marole and Crausot in both Pinot and Chardonnay, as well as other sites including the estate’s oldest vines in Clos
Jus. Grape-growing is sustainable, and the domaine has not used herbicides in 25 years. Early on, Lumpp replanted the mediocre clonal material to a quality selection done by massal selection to ensure satisfactory results.
DOMAINE JOBLOT
Charles Joblot founded Domaine Joblot before the establishment of the appellation, and the domaine is today directed by his great-granddaughter Juliette, who has been making the wines since 2012. The estate covers 14.5ha. The vines surround the village, and produce both red and white premier cru wines. Yields are kept low across the board. The Pinot is destemmed prior to fermentation, and the Chardonnay is crushed as whole clusters before fermentation in cask.
DOMAINE RAGOT
Domaine Ragot was founded in the 18th century. Nicolas Ragot represents the eighth generation of the family, which farms 9ha in Givry. On his arrival, he stopped using herbicides and started ploughing; the domaine has been sustainably farmed for 20 years. Like many of his neighbours, he replanted to limit yields and eliminate inferior clonal material. Yields are further held in check by bud-thinning, and the harvest is rigorously sorted before being destemmed slowly to leave the grapes intact.
created for the vineyards that existed at the end of World War II. Authorities defined the appellation according to scientific criteria in 1988, and established an initial list of premiers crus in 1990 covering 16 climats. The list was expanded to all or part of 26 climats in 1997 and expanded again to the present 38 in 2010.
The style of the wine of Givry has also evolved. Once, the wines were rustic, with astringent tannins, earthy notes instead of fruit, and sharp acidity. Today the fruit is riper due to global warming, and advances in grape-growing and winemaking have given us wines with more elegance and finesse. The balance found in Givry now is superb, with tannins that are not as firm as one can find in Mercurey, for example, but with more structure than is common in other parts of the Côte Chalonnaise.
With the excitement and investment Givry has seen in recent years, this is one of the best places to search for top-quality, value-priced Burgundy.