Winemaker Notes
Founded in 1731, Bouchard Père & Fils is one of Burgundy’s oldest wine merchants and one of the largest landowners in the Côte d’Or. Over the centuries, the House has been devoted to attaining highly renowned parcels to produce exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. With uncompromising quality standards, long term grower partnerships and ageing in a state-of-the-art winery results in wines of outstanding consistency and the truest and finest expression of each terroir.
Bouchard Père & Fils joined the Henriot family portfolio in 1995.
Over time, by acquiring various terroirs with great care and patience, Bouchard Père & Fils has built up a vast domaine in Côte-d’Or. Today the estate boasts 130 hectares of vines, of which 12 are classed Grand Cru and 74 classed as Premier Cru.
Bouchard Père & Fils is an example of unique Burgundy heritage, offering great diversity and a raft of prestigious appellations: Montrachet, Corton-Charlemagne, Beaune Grèves Vignes de l’Enfant Jésus, Bonnes-Mares, Meursault Perrières… names that resonate with history, inspiring respect and encouraging the pursuit of excellence, with 4 monopolies and exclusives among them. These remarkable parcels are meticulously tended by our teams who are responsible for the maintenance of the estate’s vines.
This is the village for the most die-hard Burgundy fanatics. Vosne-Romanée has for many hundreds of years been the source of the most sought-after Pinot Noir in Burgundy. The village claims six Grands Crus—and some of the most famous at that—but in other villages where owners manage tiny parcels or a few rows of any one vineyard, monopolies dominate the Grands Crus of Vosne-Romanee.
Of these monopolies, Domaine Romanee-Conti (DRC) reigns supreme, claiming not only more total vineyard area than any other producer, but outright owning the entirety of two of the Grands Crus and a majority of two others. In its full possession are naturally Romanée-Conti, as well as La Tâche. DRC also owns most of Richebourg and Romanée-St-Vivant. The final two, La Grande Rue and La Romanée are completely owned by other other produers: François Lamarche and Comte Liger Belair, respectively.
While one could spend a lifetime on the puzzles of land ownership in Burgundy, the point is that Vosne-Romanee contains the most valuable pieces of vineyard real estate in the world. Pinot Noir from any of its vineyards—especially from within its 27ha of Grand Cru or 58 ha of Premier Cru land—is going to rank among the best.
The most outstanding wines from this village have everything: finesse and elegance coupled with the body and sturdiness for incredibly long aging ability. They are intensely floral and exotically spiced. Beautifully ripe, complex and ephemeral throughout, they are robust, yet fine-grained in texture. These wines will stay gorgeous for the long haul.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”