Boris Champy Beaune 1er Cru Vignes Franches

Crossing San Francisco Bay (USA) swimming and walking the pilgrimage route from Dijon (France) to Santiago de Compostela (Spain) are some of the challenges that Boris Champy has completed with great success throughout his life. This intrepid winemaker combines passion for sport and the vineyard in equal measures. These two passions are surprisingly compatible because to extract the subtle differences between climates and terroirs in the Hautes-Cotes de Beaune region (Burgundy) requires the same perseverance, effort and sacrifice that training for a sport demands. So, after working as winemaker for important wineries like Dominus Estate Napa Valley, Maison Louis Latour and Clos des Lambrays, he embarked on his own project in Nantoux, in the Côte de Beaune (Burgundy) with the aim of improving the reputation of this not very well known denomination.

Considering that Domaine Boris Champy was the first estate in Burgundy to receive biodynamic certification from Demeter, Boris Champy Beaune 1er Cru Vignes Franches comes from a Premier Cru plot called Vignes Franches. This is a modest plot of land, but it finds itself perfectly located on the south coast of Beaune. These are Pinot Noir vines planted on poor limestone soils and with piles of stones around the plot that isolate and protect it. No chemical products are used and all treatments are organic and following biodynamic principles. The grapes are harvested by hand at optimum ripeness and, once in the winery, a small amount of the whole bunches are fermented with a delicate extraction during vinification. Fermentation is carried out in wooden fermenters with native yeasts and, finally, the wine is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels.

This work has had very successful results. Although in Burgundy each vintage has its own original character which is clear to see in each wine, Boris Champy Beaune 1er Cru Vignes Franches always comes out on top. An AOC Beaune 1er Cru/Côte-d'Or made with a care and dedication that make it unique.