Jean Marc Vincent

For most of the last century, Santenay, situated at the southern tip of Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune, remained in the shadows, it was a village known more for its thermal springs than for its wines. The situation has gradually changed, and this is largely thanks to a small family-run winery managed by Jean-Marc Vincent and his wife Anne-Marie. Their wines now grace the tables of Parisian sommeliers and other Burgundian winemakers, who are generally the most discerning of customers.

History

Jean-Marc grew up amongst the vineyards. His grandfather, André Bardolle-Bravar, was a winemaker from Santenay who retired in 1970 and leased his vineyards to other winemakers under long-term sharecropping agreements. For nearly three decades, the family vineyards lay virtually fallow. Jean-Marc, who had been working in Alsace, returned home and established his own estate in 1997, gradually buying back the family vineyards from the tenants as their leases expired. In his own words, when he started out, every post was rotten and every wire was rusty. Since then, he has been working on the restoration.

Vineyards and terroir

Today, the estate covers around five hectares, mainly in Santenay and its surroundings, but with plots in Auxey-Duresses, Puligny-Montrachet and Montagnier. Total production is modest, around 25,000 bottles a year, so most of the wine is sold out before it even reaches the shelves.

The terroir lies at the southern tip of the Côte de Beaune, where the slopes of limestone and clay-marl soil catch the morning sun. The Les Gravières, Beaurepaire and Passetemps premier cru plots are situated midway up the slope on limestone soils, which lend the wines tension and a clean mineral note. Auxey-Durey, a village situated just over the hill from Meursault, is where Jean-Marc has his oldest Chardonnay plot, with vines over 80 years old.

Grapes and winemaking

The grapes are classic Burgundy varieties: Pinot Noir for reds and Chardonnay for whites, plus a small experiment with Aligoté, a variety which, in Jean-Marc’s opinion, deserves more recognition than it receives.

Since 2003, the vineyards have been cultivated using methods close to organic. Heavy tractors are a thing of the past, replaced by manual labour. The vines are pruned high, with the canopies left higher than is customary in Burgundy, so that the leaves shade the fruit and the soil retains water during dry years. Some new plots are planted at a density of 14,000–15,000 vines per hectare, which is unusually high and forces each vine to compete for nutrients and water.

The grapes are harvested in several passes, sorted directly in the vineyard and delivered to the winery in small crates. Everything is moved by gravity, without crushing. Red wines are fermented up to 100% as whole bunches depending on the harvest, then aged for 15 to 17 months in barrels, of which around 20% are new oak. White wines are gently pressed, fermented using indigenous yeasts and aged on the lees for up to 18 months in a combination of barrels and 500-litre demi-muids, of which around 10–15% are new oak.

Wines

The range is small but substantial. The Santenay 1er Cru reds, Les Gravières, Beaurepaire and Passetemps are the winery’s flagship wines: these are structured Pinots that age well for a decade or more.

The Auxey-Duresses Les Hautés white wine far exceeds its status as a village wine. The red Vieilles Vignes Santenay and the dense white Les Vignes Denses are wines sought after by connoisseurs.