Jean-Marc DuFouleur, working off of 3.4 hectares in the northern sector of Morey Saint-Denis, just above the grand cru of Clos de la Roche, and adjoining the line of great parcels from neighboring Gevrey-Chambertin, is continuing the work of his father who pieced together these parcels in the 1960's. The vines he now tends, planted by his father at the time of acquiring these plots, are now in excess of 40 years. In the vineyard, Jean-Marc is a proponent of regular plowing, encouraging roots to dig deep for their sources of sustenance and promoting the microbiological life which helps to create healthy ecosystems and also limits erosion, an important concern on the steep vineyard parcels of Morey which rise to 350 meters. In the cellar, he works his fermentations in small fiberglass open top tanks at low temperatures over 22 to 25 days to preserve the fresh fruit aromas and does daily pigeage to gently transfer the phenolic materials into his fermenting juice.

Jean-Marc made the decision that from his first vintage he would spare neither expense nor any ffort to position his domaine's wines among the very best from his village. He is a perfectionist and pays attention to the smallest of details and how each winemaking decision affects the end product. It shows. His wines express themselves with a freshness of wild fruit, candied cherries, smoky black-fruited aromatics along with a melding of herbs and minerals that typify many of the wines from this section of Morey. They are supple, approachable in their youth and vividly expressive of this very distinctive terroir.

Jean- Marc Dufouleur set out to make the finest wines in Burgundy, by starting with the finest land in Burgundy. In the words of Robert Parker "there are no Burgundy Grand Crus better than Clos de la Roche, Bonnes Mares or Clos St. Denis".

Clos de la Roche (41 acres) frequently produces some of the greatest wines in all Burgundy. Jean-Marc not only has his tiny holding in this fabled vineyard, but his 1er Cru plots actually run directly against it. You simply cannot get any physically closer to Grand Cru land than this. We are talking about two feet apart. Even the village plot is only a stone's throw away. Jean-Marc is so meticulous about his fruit that in 2004, he felt it was not up to standard, so he took every grape to the distiller without it even reaching his winery. Any winemaker that is willing to throw a whole vintage away rather than make sub par wine is a perfectionist to be sure. After the 2005 vintage, he pulled his vines out in his plot of Clos de la Roche to replant them. "They were getting old" was his reasoning. The result is no more from this plot for about 8 years at least.

Agnès Paquet's vineyards are situated in the heart of Burgundy, in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune region. It extends over the Côte de Beaune and the Hautes Côtes de Beaune. With no family history for wine making the estate was created entirely from scratch. The first harvest was in 2001. More than half of the 7.5 hectares of vines for the winery's red and white wine production comes from the appellations of Auxey-Duresses. The remaining vineyards are spread throughout, Bourgogne, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune, Pommard and Chassagne-Montrachet. Since the birth of the estate in 2001 many things have evolved: a change in cultivation trends, vinification methods and Agnes's philosophy and style have slowly but surely come into their own. Agnes Paquet is making some truly exciting wines from Burgundy.

Gérard Gelin's 15 hectares of vineyards called Domaine des Nugues (pronounced newgg) has developed an extraordinary following, and justifiably so. The vineyards are bordered on either side by Morgon to the west and Fleurie to the east. The vines average forty years in age and the quality of the fruit grown on this hillside site is extraordinary. There are even some vines that have reached an age of over a century. The wines made here are never artificially adjusted and are richer and denser that many Cru Beaujolais. As keeping with the finest tradition, all fruit is hand-harvested and whole-cluster vinified. Tasting of only the pure fruit flavors of unadulterated Beaujolais, they evolve beautifully with bottle age.

Gérard Gelin, son of winemaker bought the estate in 1976. Following the purchase he changed the domaines' name to NUGUES. The estate is a total of 28.25 hectares comprised of 18.25 ha Beaujolais-Villages, 3.55 hectares in Beaujolais, 0.45 ha in Morgon and 6 ha of Cassis. In the northern limits Gérard also owns holdings in the Beaujolais Crus of Moulin à Vent and Fleurie.

Harvesting is always done manually. The wine is made with a whole cluster semi-carbonic maceration as dictated by the AOC of Beaujolais. The duration of cuivaison ranges from 6 to 10 days depending on the style of wine that is sought. Fermentation temperatures are carefully controlled throughout the fermentation process and are monitored twice a day. The developing wine is tasted from the tanks at least once a day and towards the end of the maceration is when it is decided when to press off the skins depending on the style of wine desired by Gérard.

This is serious Gamay!

Since 1792 the Collet family has, from generation to generation, consecrated themselves to their vines. Romain, the son of Gilles, now represents the fourth generation of Collets in Chablis.

The winery and the cellar are located in the heart of the village of Chablis, where tradition and modernism live together. The parcels of the vineyard of Domaine Collet are located on the best slopes of the right bank (1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre and 1er Cru Mont de Milieu) and left bank (Montmains 1er Cru and Vaillons 1er Cru) of the Serein River. This gives the wines their generosity and charm.

The philosophy of Domaine Collet represents a struggle to work the vines within a framework of reasonable viticultural practices, which aims to giving value to the very unique terroir of Chablis. This is done by especting the soil and managing the yields of each harvest. Domaine Collet avoids using polluting products such as weed killers and herbicides and prefers only to work the vines using the mechanical turning of the soil, as well as manual intervention in the vineyards.

Domaine Henri Rebourseau’s privileged location of vineyards in Gevry-Chambertin consists of 13 hectares. The wines are a true expression of authenticity and are very representative of quality Pinot Noir. The harmony and the distinction of the wines are obtained by traditional wine-making from start to finish. Wines made in this style are capable of keeping their natural characters and reflect the character of the earth from which they come. The ageing necessary for the wines is evident upon its first impression in the glass. Gevrey-Chambertin (7 ha) borders the family estate to the 1er cru Les Fonteny (0.88 ha), Charmes-Chambertin (1.31 ha), Mazis-Chambertin (0.96 ha), Chambertin Clos de Beze (0.33ha), Chambertin (0.46 ha), Clos de Vougeot (2.21ha). The richness of the soils of Gevrey-Chambertin is evident in the wines of Domaine Henri Rebourseau.

Domaine de Suremain is located in the heart of the Côte Chalonnaise, Burgundy in the village of Mercurey and is now in its 7th generation of family wine making at the Chateau du Bourgneuf. In this beautiful landscape of the Val d'Or, the appellation of Mercurey is the most famous in the Côte Chalonnaise. The area of production for Suremain consists of 20 hectares, producing only wine from the Mercurey appellation. The diversity and nuances of the soils are expressed through a range of five different Premier Cru. Harvesting is always done by hand and sorted at the winery. Fermentation takes place in open oak and is punched down twice per day. Maceration is 8-15 days depending on the vintage. Each 1er Cru is aged in oak barrels for a year; 10 to 15% new. The wines are allowed to rest for 18-24 months in the bottles before being released into the market. Domaine de Suremain is recognized as one of the top producers of Mercurey.

With nearly 14 hectares farmed today, Domaine de Mauperthuis is one of those areas of northern Burgundy that redolent the arms of Burgundy appellations of Saint-Bris and Irancy. Laurent and Marie-Noëlle Ternynck have settled in Vernoy for fifteen years now.

It is often very difficult to find the wines of Domaine de Mauperthuis since a large part of production is sold directly from the property. Domaine de Mauperthuis still produced a rare grape called César. César is believed to be a rare grape from Spain brought in to France from the Romans in the 19th Century called Argant and was mated with Pinot Noir in Jura. The wines of Domaine de Mauperthuis are wines of high quality and limited production.