Vincent Girardin

Domaine Vincent Girardin demonstrates that a respect for tradition can coexist with modern winemaking. The wines are fine expressions of their terroir. If you’re a fan of either the cool-climate Chardonnays or silky Pinot Noirs that are made to the east of the Côte d’Or, you’ll find a lot to enjoy here.

History
In Santenay, a classic Burgundian wine village, Vincent Girardin was born into a family with deep roots in the local winemaking scene. But instead of simply taking over the family business, Vincent decided to modernize the winemaking 1980 and start something new. He began with a mere two hectares of inherited vines but turned those into something special, focusing on quality and on expressing the true terroir of Burgundy. Well before he became the successful figure he is today, Vincent Girardin had the vision to make good wine that shows off the potential of Burgundy's land.

The wines became popular very quickly. As the demand increased, Vincent did something rather audacious for a Burgundy producer—he began purchasing grapes from other growers who met his stringent quality standards. This allowed him to expand his range of wines without compromising his focus on quality. By the 2000s, his name was well known among Burgundy aficionados, particularly for his white wines from such outstanding villages as Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet.
In 2012, Vincent passed the business to a new owner, but the core team was kept intact, and that team has continued to make the wines at the domaine. The wines have maintained their expressiveness and terroir.

The Vineyards
The estate owns approximately 22 hectares of vineyards, working with a network of growers whose high standards match that of the estate. These vineyards stretch from Santenay in the south to the famed hill of Corton in the north. You’ll find Girardin wines from some of the most esteemed villages: Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Saint-Aubin, Santenay, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Aloxe-Corton, Volnay, and Pommard.

A big strength is the mix of vineyard sites. Some are grand cru plots such as Le Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne; others are premier cru or village-level. This gives the domaine a broad spectrum to work with, and lets them showcase the variety of Burgundy’s terroirs.

Sustainability is the focus of the estate's own vineyards. They avoid using herbicides and insecticides. They use higher trellises to better the health of the vines, and many of the plots are biodynamically farmed. For some vineyard and winery work, they pay attention to lunar cycles.

Terroir
In Burgundy, terroir determines what happens in the vineyard, and no one understands that better than Girardin. He is the fifth generation to work in this family business that spans more than a century. Girardin’s father, a viticulture professor, had vineyard plots returned to the family that had been nationalized during the French Revolution so the family has not only Burgundy but also slices of both the world of the living and the realm of the dead in the marrow of its tree.

Every hamlet and vineyard contributes something unique. Meursault produces powerful, nutty white wines. The wines from Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet are more floral and mineral. The reds, almost all made from Pinot Noir, come from places like Volnay and Pommard, and tend to be bright and fragrant.

Working with such a multitude of sites, Girardin's wines offer a.n nice way to see the many faces of Burgundy. 

Way of Winemaking
Letting the vineyards speak is the notion behind the winemaking at Vincent Girardin. Hand-picking and careful sorting precede the native yeast fermentation that is so essential to the wines' sense of place. Commercial yeast strains do not figure in the Girardin formula.

The juice for white wines is pressed gently and fermented in oak barrels, but not too much new oak is used—usually less than a third. This keeps the oak from overpowering the wine’s natural flavors. The wines are aged on their lees (spent yeast cells) for extra texture and complexity, often for 12 to 18 months.

When making red wine, the grapes are mostly destemmed and then fermented in open vats. The process team for red wine uses gentle extraction, favoring infusion methods over the more common punching down of the cap. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is placed in some oak. New barrels are used only as much as necessary to avoid over-oaking the final product.

The winery refrains from the use of fining agents, and when it does filter, it is only lightly. The intent is to allow the wine's character and texture to shine through.

3 Fun Facts
- The family line: Vincent Girardin inherited two hectares of vineyards from his family. Now, the domaine recognizes fruit from some of the most iconic villages in Burgundy.
- Biodynamic Winegrowing and the Moon: Most of the estate's vineyards are farmed according to biodynamic principles, and nearly all of the winemaking steps are timed to the lunar calendar.
- Collaboration: Although Vincent himself bowed out in 2012, the core crew endures—among them, winemaker Eric Germain, who has now for over two decades helped shape the domaine’s distinctive style.