Domaine du Chancelier Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune 'Les Chevrieres', Burgundy, France 2022

The young estate of Domaine du Chancelier, run by Elsa & Cédric Ehrhart, is deeply connected to the tradition and history that surrounds it. The cellars and vinification facilities are located in the historic center of Beaune in an 18th-century building that once belonged to the founder of Hospices de Beaune Nicolas Rolin and his wife Guigone de Salins. The selection of this location was deliberate on the part of the Ehrharts as a way to honor the heritage of Burgundy even as they blaze their own path forward.

Elsa and Cédric crafted their first vintage in 2016 from purchased fruit and slowly began to acquire parcels throughout Burgundy. They now have five hectares of land, and produced their first wine from their parcels in 2020. In plots where they don’t own the land, Elsa and Cédric have long-term contracts with growers where they choose the picking dates and complete harvest themselves. They practice organic farming, including with their purchased fruit, and seek to respect nature’s rhythms, preserving living soils for a pure expression of terroir.

At the winery, Elsa and Cédric have done a complete renovation and now have a state-of-the-art facility that is entirely gravity-fed. This helps reinforce their ethos of minimal manipulation of the fruit. All grapes are harvested by hand in small boxes and kept cold overnight. The whites are pressed directly, leaving the juice to oxidise slightly before being put in barrels for both fermentations. No sulfur is added, nor are the wines chaptalized or acidified. Only indigenous yeasts are used, and the juice is left its fine lees for the entirety of its aging without battonage or racking until bottling.

VINEYARDS & VITICULTURE
The climat Les Chevrières is located in the commune of Savigny-Lès-Beaune. This high-altitude, east-facing terroir has shallow limestone soil, offering finesse and length to the wine. Dense planting of 10,000 plants/ha and simple Guyot training.

SOILS
Shallow limestone

HARVEST & VINIFICATION
All whites are sorted and undergo a long press after spending overnight in a chilled room (3-3.5hr press). Settling in tank, then into barrique for native yeast fermentation and aging. No sulfur until bottling.