Vincent Dancer
Burgundy is home to numerous wineries with a history spanning three centuries. While Vincent Dancer does not share this heritage, that has not hindered the development of this domaine. Based in Chassagne-Montrachet within the Côte de Beaune region, this small winery has built a loyal following with its white wines, which possess a unique tension and clarity. It uses native yeasts, rarely employs new oak barrels, and does not subject its wines to fining or filtration. The vines are tended and harvested by hand, yields are kept low, and the winery obtained organic certification relatively early by Burgundian standards. While its white wines account for most of its reputation, the red wines produced in Pommard, Beaune, and Chassagne are also made based on the same philosophy of minimal intervention. Vincent's son, Théo, joined the business in 2016 and currently runs the estate. Despite its small size, less than 10 hectares, it enjoys a following that would be the envy of even the most historic wineries.
History
Vincent Dancer is not Burgundian. He grew up in Alsace, where his parents had settled, and while following in his father's footsteps to become an engineer, he discovered that his family owned land and vineyards in Chassagne-Montrachet.
So, to get a sense of the field, he enrolled in a wine-making certificate program in Beaune. Eventually, he found himself surrounded by people passionate about vineyards and became completely captivated by the craft.
In 1996, at the age of 22, he moved to the family-owned property in Chassagne-Montrachet and began cultivating 3.5 hectares of vineyards. At that time, there was no winery yet. His uncle, Philippe Ballot, who was working as a winemaker in Meursault, helped with the first harvest. The following year, the winery was built and has expanded almost continuously ever since.
In the early days, Dancer lacked both the space and the equipment to process the entire harvest, so part of the crop was sold to négociants. The year 2003 was an exception, however, as the harvest was extremely small anyway. Starting in 2000, as lease agreements expired, the family reclaimed the remaining family-owned vineyards, and in 2013, they purchased several additional plots.
Théo Dancer (Vincent's son) returned to the domaine in 2016 to work alongside his father and took full ownership of the domaine in 2021. He also runs two projects under his own name, Théo Dancer and Roc Breia, separate from the domaine.
Six hectares, five villages
The key point here is that it is small-scale, the vineyards measure around a total of 6 hectares. For a domaine with such a large following, its wine production is relatively small.
These vineyards, spanning just a few hectares, are scattered across village and premier cru appellations such as Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault, Pommard, Beaune, among others. In Chassagne, there are Morgeot, Tête du Clos, and La Romanée. Meursault includes Les Perrières, Les Corbins, and Les Grands Charrons; Pommard includes Les Perrières and Les Pézerolles; and Beaune includes Les Montrevenots.And one Grand Cru, the Chevalier Montrachet.
All work and harvesting are done by hand, and yields are intentionally kept low. The domaine obtained organic certification in 2012 and is generally recognized as the first in the Chassagne-Montrachet region to do so.
Around the same time, biodynamic farming practices began to be gradually introduced across many plots, and horse-drawn plowing is also practiced in the Premier Cru plots. This is by no means mere marketing rhetoric. It is simply the method required by the small, steep, and hand-tended Côte de Beaune vineyard.
Two grapes, and a third on the side
Côte de Beaune runs on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and Domaine Vincent Dancer works with both.
The winemaking
Vincent Dancer's philosophy is that wine is essentially complete even before it arrives at the winery. The processes that occur afterward are more akin to supervision than intervention.
Fermentation is carried out by native yeasts without temperature control, so it proceeds at the wine's own pace. Some fermentation processes can last nearly a year after harvest. This is a process that requires considerable patience, and it is one of the reasons the wine possesses its distinctive character.
The proportion of new oak barrels is kept below 10%, and most of the aging takes place in larger, more neutral oak barrels or tanks rather than in small new oak barrels. Dancer has long alternated between oak barrels and tanks depending on the cuvée.
White wines are not stirred. By aging exclusively on the lees for an extended period without bâtonnage, the wines develop a rich texture. The wines are not clarified or filtered before bottling, and they have low sulfur content.
Total production is low, generally reported to be between 20,000 and 25,000 bottles annually across the entire lineup. When divided among about 14 labels, it's easy to see why these wines are so hard to come by.
The wines
White wine is this domaine's signature product.
The premier cru wines from Chassagne-Montrachet, the village of origin, are Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot, Chassagne-Montrachet Tête du Clos and Chassagne-Montrachet la Romanee.
From Meursault the Meursault Perrières premier cru is made from a vineyard well-known for its solid structure and long finish rather than opulence.
Pommard Les Perrières is a village-level red wine, and it clearly exemplifies the domaine's style for red wines: supple, crisp, and never overly forceful.
The village wines are Meursault Les Corbins, Les Grands Charrons, Chassagne Montrachet as well as Bourgogne and Hautes-Côtes vilage wines.
Vincent Dancer also produces a Grand Cru, the Chevalier Montrachet.
The red wine portfolio consists of Pommard Les Pézerolles, Pommard les Perrieres and Beaune Les Montrevenots,
There is also the Oskar, a Vin de France.
Although red wine has always accounted for a small portion of total production, it has been gradually growing and follows the same logic as white wine.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Domaine Vincent Dancer based?
In Chassagne-Montrachet, in the Côte de Beaune. The vineyards spread out from there into Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault, Pommard and Beaune.
Who runs the domaine now?
Théo Dancer. He returned to the estate in 2016 and took it over fully in 2021, having worked alongside his father Vincent in the meantime.
Is the domaine organic?
Yes, certified since 2012, and generally cited as the first in Chassagne-Montrachet to be certified. Biodynamic practices, including horse ploughing in the premier crus, have been introduced across much of the vineyard since.
What is Vincent Dancer best known for?
The white wines, above all the Chassagne-Montrachet premier crus and Meursault Perrières, made with minimal handling and very little new oak.
