Domaine de
la Romanée Conti

Vosne-Romanée is arguably the most prestigious wine-growing town in Burgundy, and surely one of the most admired in the world. Four of the six Grands-Crus of the town are Monopoles: La Grande Rue, La Romanée, La Tâche, and la Romanée Conti.

The sole owner of the last two is the Domaine de la Romanée Conti, under the management of Aubert De Villaine and his nephew Bertrand, who strive for perfection at all levels, from the vine to the cellar, including quality impeccable distribution.

In addition to the Grands-Crus Romanée Conti and La Tâche, the estate also offers us 4 Grands-Crus of the Côte de Nuits in red each year (Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Richebourg, Grands Echezeaux and Echezeaux), and sometimes a Grand Cru of the Côte de Beaune in white, the Montrachet.

Château Rayas
(and Emmanuel Reynaud's wines)

This is the most famous estate in Châteauneuf du Pape, and perhaps even in the entire Rhône valley. After Louis Reynaud, then his son Jacques, it is now Emmanuel, Jacques's nephew, who controls the production and distribution of the Domaine's wines.

A great lover of Grenache, he transcends the expression of great wine with this single grape variety in an environment where some producers can blend up to thirteen.

Little color but so many aromas and finesse…! Emmanuel Reynaud's talent does not stop with the production of Château Rayas and we are fortunate to also enjoy the wines of Château de Fonsalette and Château des Tours which he produces with the same passion and the same success.

Domaine Henri Bonneau

Henri Bonneau, who died in 2016, was a brilliant winemaker capable of producing wines with a unique personality, free from any fashion, trend or influence. He remains a legend for all wine lovers.

Far from the canons of modern oenology, its wines are characterized by great complexity and remarkable finesse, despite their deep concentration. While they can quickly appear spectacular, their aging potential seems endless.

Unfortunately, the different vintages are produced in very limited quantities, and are particularly difficult to find. They come from a vineyard of barely 6 hectares planted mainly in Grenache, with a complement of Mourvèdre and Cinsault. Since his death, his closest collaborator has managed the estate, striving to scrupulously respect a family tradition that has convinced enthusiasts the world over. As you might expect, vintages prior to 2016 are already collectors and are increasingly rare on the market.

Rostaing Domain

René Rostaing is a great winemaker. He took over the production of the vineyard from his father-in-law, Albert Dervieux in 1971. Today René Rostaing owns 1 hectare in the Condrieu appellation (la Bonnette) and 7 hectares in Côte-Rôtie, including a 2-hectare plot in the prestigious place called La Landonne, vinified separately. This cuvée ages particularly well and has little to envy to that of Guigal, yet better known by wine lovers. Another plot (1 ha) of the estate is located on the terraces of the famous Côte Blonde, considered one of the most qualitative of the appellation. A third smaller parcel of Côte Brune is located next to La Turque de Guigal. These 3 plot cuvées are aged for 24 months in oak barrels of “several wines”. They give wines that are at the top of the appellation and that we recommend to each wine lover to taste at least once in their life... René Rostaing also owns parcels of Coteaux du Languedoc, at the Puech Noble estate, whose production comes in two pretty red cuvées and a superb white cuvée. From now on, it is Pierre, his son, who masterfully leads these two areas in sustainable agriculture, without seeking to revolutionize the methods that his father had been able to establish.

David Duband Domain

David Duband took over the family estate in the Hautes Côtes de Nuits in 1991 and gradually abandoned conventional agriculture, finally obtaining organic certification in 2006. He had then kept the family habit of completely destemming his grapes.

With the help of investor François Feuillet, he was also able to acquire a few additional plots to expand the estate.

It was not until 2008 that David Duband decided to take a strategic turn to favor vinification in whole bunches which today characterize the style of his wines, with gentle extraction and crushing at the end of fermentation which release the residual sugars from the still intact berries.

The wines are then aged in barrels, a third of which are new and lightly toasted. Bursting with aromas and structured around fine, powdery tannins, the estate's wines bear a strong signature but nevertheless remain well differentiated within the range. Faithful to their respective terroirs, they can age with great grace.

Jean-Marie Guffens-Heynen

Jean-Marie and Maine Guffens-Heynen came from Belgium to settle in the Mâconnais in the late 1970s. They quickly learned how to produce good white wines and quickly bought their first plots in Pierreclos. Since then, the estate has expanded into the Mâcon Villages, Saint-Véran and Pouilly-Fuissé appellations. He then completed his production of great white Burgundy wines by creating a haute couture business, the Maison Verget, which added to the range of prestigious appellations of the Côte de Beaune. Subsequently, Jean-Marie Guffens acquired two new properties, the Château des Tourettes in the Luberon, and the Château Closiot in Barsac, where he produces very fine dry and sweet wines when the year permits.

Jean-Marie Guffens perfectly masters winemaking to the point of becoming the greatest chardonnay winemaker in the world, according to Robert Parker. Tasting one of his cuvées, even after ten years, is always a great moment. He revealed the potential of the best terroirs of the Mâconnais and knew how to create emulation around him. The estate's wines are mainly sold en primeur, but they are increasingly sought after and increasingly difficult to acquire. Fortunately, it is possible and even advisable to take as much interest in the other properties of this exceptional winemaker, whose wines are still accessible...

Domaine Belargus

Ivan Massonnat is a former partner of the investment fund PAI Partners. Passionate about wine, he moved to Chinon with the aim of buying a wine estate there, but the opportunity to buy Jo Pithon's property in Anjou presented itself before, in 2018. The emblematic Jo Pithon continues to bring its experience and advice to the teams of the domain renamed Belargus on the terroirs of Anjou, Coteaux-du-Layon, Quarts-de-Chaume and Savennières.

The vines were already grown organically, but the new owner has started converting them to biodynamics, extending the aging of certain cuvées and globally organizing production in a very Burgundian parcel logic. The dry white wines of Chenin are vinified on the reduction and recall the unique "grilled" style of the cuvées of the Belgian master of Burgundy, Jean-Marie Guffens. Like the latter, the sweet cuvées are rarer but have a perfect balance that will go well with many dishes, provided you have the audacity!

Finally, the icing on the cake, despite a certain lack of hindsight, it seems almost obvious that these wines should age beautifully... The first notes of Wine Advocate are simply stunning!!!

Châteaux Le Tertre Roteboeuf, Roc de Cambes (and Mitjavile family wines) 

Properties of François Mitjavile, an atypical winemaker in a Bordeaux vineyard that is sorely lacking the kind, these two estates produce some of the best wines in a region that is nevertheless very rich in prestigious brands. Like Emmanuel Reynaud in the Rhône Valley, François Mitjavile does not like to make concessions with his wines. He does not hesitate to take risks to ensure the optimal maturity of the grapes and he is quite often among the last owners to harvest his harvest.

The results are impressive with wines whose balance is reminiscent of the greatest Burgundy wines. The immediate pleasure is prolonged as much during the tasting, with very persistent flavors, as in the cellar where these wines can remain for many years without weakening.

Like Emmanuel Reynaud, the wines of François Mitjavile particularly stand out in vintages reputed to be difficult, even mediocre. Indeed, if no Châteauneuf du Pape is able to compete with a Château Rayas 2002 (a vintage to forget locally), the same can be said in Bordeaux against a Château Tertre Roteboeuf 1997 or a Château Roc de Cambes 2013... there is no mediocre vintage among these artists of the vineyard!

Chateau Grillet

Recognized as a controlled designation of origin by the INAO in 1936, Château-Grillet and its 3.5 hectares was then the smallest AOC in France. At that time, the most famous of gastronomic critics, Emille Sailland known as “Curnonsky” (1872-1956), ranked Château Grillet among the 5 greatest white wines in the world. The property has since belonged to several Lyon bourgeois families until Isabelle Baratin decided to sell it to François Pinault in 2011.

Since then, every means has been implemented to restore this vineyard to the prestige it had at the beginning of the century. Under the leadership of Frédéric Engerer, it was first Alessandro Noli who managed the vinification and high-precision maturing of the estate, before joining Clos de Tart. It was then Jaeok Chu Cramette who took over the management and who continued to improve the wines thanks to a very particular attention paid to the culture.

Château-Grillet now offers a second wine, the Côtes-du-Rhône “Pontcin”, and a Condrieu from a 0.25 are plot at a place called Carterie. The entire estate has been certified biodynamic since December 2016. Like most of the region's vines, those of the estate are planted on often vertiginous slopes and are worked with a winch and a pickaxe. The wine, which always combines the freshness of the mouth and the maturity of Viognier, develops complex flavors between fruits and spices. Landlocked in the middle of the Condrieu Appellation, it is cut for aging and offers unique balance in this region.

Domaine Egly-Ouriet

The Egly-Ouriet house was born in Ambonnay (Montagne de Reims) shortly after 1945 with a few hectares of vines. Today, Francis Égly manages the 16 hectares of the estate with his daughter Clémence. With an average age of 40 years, the vines are built around exceptional mass selections, at the origin of the unique quality of the grapes and ultimately the breathtaking personality of the juices.

For three generations now, the Egly family has developed a heritage of grand cru vines in Bouzy, Verzenay and of course Ambonnay in the heart of the Montagne de Reims, renowned for its great Pinot Noir. As a premier cru, it also has beautiful plots of Pinot Meunier on the Vrigny terroir, in the Marne valley as well as one hectare in Bisseuil, where since 2016 they have been producing a cuvée dominated by Chardonnay.

Finally, a final plot acquired in Trigny on the Saint-Thierry massif to the northwest of Reims is at the origin of the new vintage “Les Prémices” since the 2020 vintage. Francis Egly has not been looking for malolactic fermentations for almost 25 years, a sign of the progression of maturity of the grapes on his terroirs. Following his father Michel, he built up sufficient stock to allow him to release his vintages (brut or extra-brut) after four years of aging on slats, and his vintages beyond six years. Her daughter Clémence gradually takes up the torch with the same passion and the same demands, for our greatest happiness.

Gangloff Domain

Yves Gangloff is unquestionably an artist.

Of Alsatian origin and passionate about music, he joined his brother Pierre, a painter in Ampuis, in the 80s. It was there that he met his future wife, Mathilde, with whom he launched the estate and produced his own wines from 1992. First in Condrieu and Côte-Rôtie, he later acquired vines in Saint-Joseph. After Mathilde's death in 2011, her children Loup and especially Elsa gradually became involved and today it is Elsa who, with her father, manages the production and distribution of wines from the 9 hectares that the estate now has. Today highly sought after around the world, the wines have become legendary and very difficult to acquire.

Domaine Dagueneau
(Didier et Benjamin)

After Didier's departure, his son Benjamin took over the torch of this illustrious estate in the Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé region, which had gradually become a world benchmark for Sauvignon. Today, the wines produced are as precise and pure as ever, with a wild mineral profile that requires several years of aging before giving some of the most beautiful emotions that a white wine can offer… Do not hesitate to contact us to have this pleasure !