Alain Burguet

Alain Burguet is an uncompromising perfectionist, driven to grow the very best grapes and to make Gevrey Chambertin wines that are some of the very best of that celebrated village. From his Bourgogne les Pince Vin to the Chambertin Clos de Beze, they are classic Burgundian "vins de garde." Burguet is a very sturdy individual, a classic Burgundian vigneron. He can come off as gruff, even taciturn and is as hardy and masculine as his wines. Domaine Alain Burguet is a relatively new domaine by Burgundian standards dating back to the horrid 1975 vintage when Alain took over a 2.10 hectare estate in Gevrey by making a sharecopping agreeement with the elderly owner. 

 It was a bad year to start, but in the 1976 vintage he got it right and ever since has been making wines that surpass their appellations and the best efforts of most of his neighbors.  From the beginning he has farmed organically, fermentations are with wild yeasts and there is minimal use of SO2. There is a mural in Alain's cellar that lists every vintage he has produced and whether it was a good year or not.  Alain is so confident of his wines that there are very few bad years listed, I think there are only 2 or 3 "annees mauvaises" on the decades long calendar.

Antonio Galloni sums it all up: Jean-Luc and Eric Burguet “continue to put their own personal touches on the wines at their family’s domaine. A focus on biodynamic farming, gentler winemaking, and lower amounts of new oak are all among the recent developments at this small cellar in the heart of Gevrey.”

They strive to continue their father’s legacy of wines that are clean and natural with very little sulfur dioxide, expressive of their terroirs, and above all elegant. The goal for upcoming years is to find vines in a few Côte de Nuits appellations that are 1er Cru and Grand Cru, to further expand their range and to be able to make wines from even more legendary terroirs.

Well before the more global movement toward sustainability and almost 20 years before Ecocert was created to certify organic agriculture, Alain insisted on organic methods. Since the start of his career, when he first began to work rented Gevrey-Chambertin vines in the 1970s, he used only ‘contact’ products, and rejuvenated the soil with composted organic matter rather than industrial fertilizer. Most importantly, and before most of his neighbors, he recognized the importance of regular plowing to generate healthier soils and vines. Jean-Luc and Eric have taken their father’s work a step farther. Viticulture is now biodynamic (though not certified), and the two have fitted the cuverie with their own copper biodynamizer.

Most of the cuvées made by the brothers are from vines that are estate-owned, though they do work rented land and since 2001 the domaine has bought grapes from trusted friends in order to offer appellations outside of Gevrey. In 2014, they seized the opportunity to purchase 2.5 hectares of land that used to belong to their grandfather. The new holdings include Bourgogne Présonniers, Genevrières and Grand Champs at the regional level, and Les Crais (blended into Symphonie) and Corvées (added to Mes Favorites) at the village level.

The majority of the domaine’s parcels are village-level and go into one of the domaine’s two Gevrey cuvées. Symphonie’s grapes are sourced from younger vines (planted in the early 1980s), the majority of which are located to the east of the Route Nationale. And Mes Favorites Vieilles Vignes is from older vines (planted from the early 1900s to the 1940s) on sloping terroirs to the west of the Route Nationale. The old vines are mostly, though not exclusively massal selection.

For many years Alain's domaine produced only 2 wines, Gevrey Chambertin and a Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes.  Since 2003 he has added some new wines including his first Grand Cru, a stunning Chambertin Clos de Beze made with grapes purchased from Domaine Damoy. You will find Alain's wines on the winelists of the finest restaurants in the world including virtually every three star in France!   The concentration, definition and sense of place in these wines is undeniable. These are some of the best wines in all of Burgundy and remarkable values at these reduced prices. 

The Burguets are consistently one of the last domaines to harvest in Gevrey-Chambertin. In 1997, Alain Burguet noted a vegetal note on the finish of his wines and a roughness to the tannins, which he attributed to the phenolic immaturity of the grapes. So starting with that vintage, even if the sugar and acidity levels were correct, he decided to wait and seek out full phenolic maturity, resulting in fuller wines with more finesse and velvety tannins with a gentler vinification. Jean-Luc and Eric continue to harvest after most of their neighbors. They credit Burgundy’s cool autumn nights and organic health of their vines with the maintained acidity in the wines.

Grapes are hand-harvested and 100% de-stemmed. Though Alain’s percentage of whole-cluster fermentation was always low (10-15% depending on the year), he decided to completely de-stem in the late 1990s, preferring a slow, gentle de-stemming and whole-berry fermentation with no crushing.

With the 2003 harvest, the Burguets started implementing triple sorting – the first by the harvest team in the vines, the second upon the bunches’ arrival in the cellar before de-stemming, the third an inspection of the whole berries on a vibrating table before they are put in tank. “You see the berries in the tank and you’d think they’re caviar, the berries are so black and ripe!” Alain says. Despite the cost of more cellar staff at harvest, he and his sons found an improvement in the precision and purity of the fruit in their wine, achieved without intervention in vinification.

Overall, Jean-Luc and Eric prefer a hands-off approach to vinification. They do not thermo-regulate their tanks to speed up or prolong fermentation. Alcoholic fermentation can begin as early as 4 days after harvest or up to 10 days later, and will generally bring the temperature up to about 33°C. Jean-Luc and Eric use indigenous yeasts only, believing them to be the true key to minerality in their wines. As of 2004, the Burguets reduced sulfur levels even further than before, and have noticed much more precision in the wines since. They rely on the natural CO2 produced during fermentation rather than dry ice to protect the juice from oxygen. Over time, they have backed off on extraction, and whereas Alain used to punch-down twice a day when he started, punch-downs and pump-overs are now dictated by the stage of fermentation and vintage profile.

The wines are transferred to traditional oak barrels after a slow and gentle pressing. Jean-Luc and Eric have progressively limited the amount new oak and the maximum for any cuvée is 30% (Clos de Bèze). Racking occurs once at bottling, though the Champeaux may be racked before, as it tends to reduce. No fining or filtration.