The best of Savigny-Lès-Beaune and Pernand-Vergelesses

Domaine Chandon de Briailles takes us back to the heart of traditional Burgundy. Since the arrival of François de Nicolay in 2001, this emblematic Burgundy estate has modernized without sacrificing its commitment to producing great classic wines.

Today, Domaine Chandon de Briailles is one of the Côte de Beaune's most renowned estates. What we call "a safe bet". Very often, this type of estate tends to rest on its laurels. It's understandable: after years of hard work and sacrifice, you're entitled to take the time to appreciate the view once you've reached the top. But that's not the policy of the house headed by François de Nicolay.

In 2023, Christian Knott, the cellar master, left the house with a heavy heart to devote himself entirely to the Dandelion estate created with Morgane. A replacement had to be found. François de Nicolay put a lot of thought into finding the right person, and ended up settling on Samuel Berger. And this is anything but trivial. Samuel is well known for having run the vast Domaine de la Pinte in the Jura for many years, during which time the quality of production was clearly improved. Then a certain Fanfan Ganevat sought him out and entrusted him with the vinifs of his prestigious domaine de la Combe de Rotalier, where he worked for several years. Having also worked at Valette and most recently at Thomas Popy (where he was "lending a hand"), Samuel Berger is a man of convictions, with impressive rigor and determination. François de Nicolay wanted to take things to the next level, and he's clearly found the right man for the job: no more mechanization, from now on all the vines will be worked by horse; already a pioneer in biodynamic viticulture, we're continuing in this direction; as for vinification, the estate is moving towards the complete exclusion of sulfur, even on very large terroirs.

And it's with undisguised pleasure that we present the 2021 vintage, vinified entirely without sulfur. While some cuvées still receive tiny doses of SO2 at bottling, this time François has decided otherwise. The same goes for the great 2020 whites. We present 3 entirely sulfur-free cuvées, including the very rare La Vie est Belle, a splendid pinot blanc pellicular maceration.

Once again, we were struck by the brilliance of the juices, by the magical color of these luminous red robes. The aromas are incredible and literally jump out at you. On the palate, it's brilliant, the fruit is superb, the balance is simply perfect and the ageing potential could surprise us in 10 to 15 years. Year after year, Domaine Chandon de Briailles continues to surprise and delight us. We can't wait for the next vintage!