Maison Gautheron d'Anost

Bastien Gautheron starts from scratch

Bastien Gautheron began studying winemaking at the age of 15, which was quite young even by Burgundian standards. He then spent several years building his career in other areas of the industry, working at Olivier Leflaive, located in Puligny, until 2019, where he ultimately served as Director of Sales and Marketing.

He then left the company to go independent and establish his own winery. Maison Gautheron d'Anost produced its first vintage in 2020, making Bastien Gautheron the founder of the winery rather than the latest generation of the family.

The foundation lies in Meursault. Building a Burgundy winery from the ground up in the 2020s is by no means an easy task. A factor is that land prices in the Côte de Beaune region are at a level accessible only to those who have inherited the land through generations, and for that very reason, the maison model is important. It involves owning as many of the vineyards as possible and purchasing grapes when that isn't feasible.

The vineyards

Maison Gautheron d'Anost owns very few vineyards and is open about this fact. The vineyards it owns consist of a small plot in Savigny-lès-Beaune, which is primarily used for red wine, and a plot in Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune, which is primarily used for white wine. Both sites have been certified organic since 2017.

All other grapes are sourced from outside the estate. Furthermore, the anonymity of these suppliers is not guaranteed. The grapes are sourced from growers known to Bastien Gautheron, most of whom are considered friends, who cultivate grapes using organic methods or methods that closely resemble them. La Rochepot is one of Chardonnay's grape suppliers.

Through this structure, the winery is able to secure grapes from appellations, ranging from Bouzeron in the south to Ladoix at the northern tip of Côte de Beaune, that it could not otherwise source on its own. This also means that the quality of the product line depends as much on interpersonal relationships as it does on cultivation methods, an inevitable trade-off for any new winery.

The terroir

The soil of each vineyard can ultimately be summarized in two words: clay and limestone. This is a standard characteristic of the Burgundy region, and the differences lie not in specific elements but in their proportions, depth, and slope.

What defines the character of Maison Gautheron d'Anost wines is not a specific single vineyard, but rather the fact that the vineyards are widely distributed. Hautes Côtes de Beaune grapes offer tension and high acidity. Savigny-lès-Beaune produces lighter, more aromatic Pinot Noir wines. The Premier Cru vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet and Ladoix add a weight and length not found in the local appellations.

The white wines, in particular, feature prominent citrus and orchard fruit aromas and leave a slightly salty, almost iodine-like finish. This is not so much the result of a house style imposed in the cellar, but rather the outcome of not interfering with the wine's natural progression.

The grapes

There is nothing unusual about the grape variety composition. Maison Gautheron d'Anost works with the classic Burgundian trio, and white wines account for a larger share of the product lineup:

• Chardonnay: Ranging from Hautes Côtes de Beaune to Premier Cru
• Pinot Noir: Produced primarily from Savigny-lès-Beaune and Pommard
• Aligoté: Wines produced from Bouzeron are bottled under the name Bien Urbain

The winemaking

The winemaking process here is simple and brief. Bastien Gautheron uses small stainless steel tanks and cools the wine only when it is first introduced into the tanks, allowing fermentation to begin gently and the temperature to rise naturally. For red wines, two punch-downs are performed before alcoholic fermentation, followed by daily pump-overs. Maceration and fermentation periods are kept short to prevent excessive extraction. Pommard Les Vignots is made with 100% whole clusters.

Aging takes place exclusively in oak barrels, without the use of tanks. Some of the oak barrels date back to the 2014 vintage, which illustrates just how low the proportion of new oak is here: Even the top-tier red wines are aged exclusively in barriques (standard 228-liter Burgundian barrels), with the proportion of new oak kept below 30%, while some white wines are aged in 350-liter barrels, which add enough texture without making the oak aroma overly pronounced.

Furthermore, the aging period itself is relatively short compared to current trends. Bottling begins as early as June, and is completed before the next harvest begins. This stems partly from practical reasons and partly from conviction; he believes this approach is more beneficial for the wine. Given that extended aging is the prevailing trend, this is a choice that goes against the mainstream, but the results support his claim.

The wines

These two Premier Cru wines demonstrate the potential that Maison Gautheron d'Anost can achieve in the top tier. Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru La Garenne is a Chardonnay, while the Ladoix 1er Cru Les Grechons is produced in a white wine-growing area located on the northern edge of Côte de Beaune.

Below these are the winery's everyday wines, which are by no means secondary products. The white wine Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune is made by blending Chardonnay, produced from the winery's own organic vineyards, with grapes sourced from outside, while Bourgogne Aligoté Bien Urbain is produced from Bouzeron.

Red wines make up a smaller portion of the lineup, including the Savigny-lès-Beaune and Pommard Les Vignots. While this winery has been best known for its white wines to date, the Pinots also have a loyal following among enthusiasts.