Bernard Bonin

Located in the village of Meursault in the Côte de Beaune, Domaine Bernard-Bonin is a small family-run estate managed by Véronique Bonin and her husband, Nicolas Bernard. The couple produce almost exclusively white wines from the Chardonnay grape, and over the last two decades their wines have quietly become some of the most sought-after white wines in Burgundy.

History

The story begins with Bernard Michaux, Véronique’s grandfather and a renowned winemaker in Mersault since the 1960s. In 1998, he divided his approximately 20 hectares among his three daughters. Véronique persuaded her mother, Geneviève, to transfer her share to her, and together with Nicolas she founded the estate, originally named Michelot Mère et Fille. It was later renamed Domaine Bernard-Bonin.

In 2021, Véronique inherited a further two hectares from her aunt Chantal, bringing the estate close to its current size.

Vineyards

The winery cultivates around 7 hectares of vineyards, mainly in Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet, as well as several Burgundy-level plots. The vines are old, mostly between 50 and 80 years old, which naturally results in low yields (around 30–35 hectolitres per hectare in most vintages). In Meursault, the estate includes lieux-dits such as Clos du Cromin, Les Tillets, Le Limozin, Les Pelles and Sous La Velle, as well as the Premier Cru vineyards of Genevière and Charmes-Dessus. In Puligny-Montrachet, there are small plots in the Premier Cru vineyards of Les Folatières and La Garenne.

Terroir

This is classic Côte de Beaune territory, with limestone-rich soils that lend the Chardonnay its tension and chalky, mineral character. Each plot is situated at a slightly different altitude and has a different aspect, and the winery ages the wines separately so that the characteristics of each plot remain distinct in the bottle.

Grape Varieties

This estate specialises exclusively in Chardonnay. Virtually everything in the cellar is white wine, and almost all of it is made from the same grape variety, with the differences between the wines the vineyards and terroir.

Winemaking

Since 2015, the estate has been certified organic by Ecocert, and since 2021, biodynamic by Demeter. The vineyards are ploughed by horses, the harvest is carried out by hand, and the couple avoid the use of copper, which is unusual even among organic winegrowers.

A deliberately non-interventionist approach is taken in the cellar. Whole bunches are slowly pressed, the juice is left to settle overnight, and fermentation begins spontaneously with the help of local yeasts in oak barrels (only a small percentage of which are new, whilst older barrels are kept for up to 15 years).

The wines are aged on fine lees for around 18 months with minimal stirring. No fining or filtration takes place, and sulphur is added only at bottling. The wines spend a few more months in tanks, and bottling is timed to coincide with the lunar calendar.

Wines

The range begins with Bourgogne Blanc ‘Initiales B.B.’, which is often praised for exceeding the standard of its appellation.

From Meursault, the range includes Les Tillets, Le Limozin, Clos du Cromin ‘Le Pré de Manche’, Vieilles Vignes and the La Rencontre blend, as well as the Premiers Crus Genevrières and Charmes-Dessus.

From Puligny-Montrachet, the range features the Premier Cru cuvée La Romance, a blend of grapes from Les Folatières and La Garenne.

All the wines in the range share a distinctive character: fresh, mineral, with depth, yet without heaviness.