Domaine Bonnardot Santenay

A fervent advocate for wine produced in the most natural manner conceivable, guided by the adage "Le vin, moins on le touche, mieux ça vaut" (the less the wine is interfered with, the better), Jules Chauvet has been a tremendous inspiration for many young vintners. For the Bonnardot family, there was a defining before and after when the latest generation, Elisabeth, became a disciple of Chauvet. She not only mastered all of the minimal intervention techniques of the maestro but also began to implement them across the 21 hectares, distributed over 18 appellations, that she owns in Burgundy. Today, her two sons Ludovic and Emilien Bonnardot continue the legacy, practicing organic farming and natural winemaking in each of their creations.

This is the genesis of Domaine Bonnardot Santenay. A Pinot Noir originating from a 1.17-hectare plot named "Les Saunieres," situated in the southern area of the Cote de Beaune, featuring old vines aged 45 years, rooted in clay-limestone and stony soils at an elevation of 260 meters above sea level. Once the grapes reach their optimal ripeness, they are hand-harvested. In the winery, the selected grapes ferment in wooden vats with half of the bunches destemmed, undergoing a maceration period of 25 days followed by a month of spontaneous fermentation with temperature control. Subsequently, the wine matures for 12 months in 228L oak barrels with an average age of 1 to 6 years.

Thus, adhering to the natural winemaking principles of Jules Chauvet himself, Domaine Bonnardot Santenay is an unadorned Pinot Noir that transparently exhibits the quintessential characteristics of the AOC Santenay terroir.