Gerard Mugneret Nuits St Georges Les Boudots 2001

At the age of 16, Gerard Mugneret began working at the domaine with his father. At the time, taking over the estate was not his plan, "I would have preferred to work in the field of electricity. I found it much more interesting!" he says, laughing. He would not change a thing today, though. It was through working along side his father, whose passion was contagious, that Gerard learned to love working the earth and the vineyards. In 1964, Gerard enrolled in a viticulture program in Beaune. He says that school was not where he learned the most, but rather his greatest training in viticulture was provided by his father and other colleagues. Gerard's father accompanied him in the vineyards until he was 80 years old. He remained passionate for the vines and the land up to the very end of his life in 1997.

Today Gerard works 8.5 hectares (20.4 acres), all of which are red grape (Pinot Noir) territory. A portion of the vineyards are worked on sharecrop contracts, so the actual production brought back to the winery is equivalent to approximately 6 hectares of vines. His wife, Francoise, who has been working the vineyards with Gerard since their marriage in 1973, also helps with all levels of administrative work of the estate.

Gerard takes his profession very seriously "a winemaker must have much humility, as is true in every day life! Once money and success arrive, too many people quickly forget the warmth of human contact, friendly ties and the help that can exist between winemaker colleagues." His philosophy towards the domaine is to vinify and bottle his entire harvest every year. This is why he is so attentive in the vineyards, working with just one employee that he himself trained. Between them exists trust and mutual respect, which is very important to Gerard. For Gerard, the vines are living beings and he treats them as such, actually speaking to them as he works. He has the impression that the vineyards respond to him in their own way, with the crop that they offer him at the end of each season.