Truth be told, I’d been trying to get an appointment at this domaine for some time, but due to the bad timing of my visits there was never anybody to receive me – the work in the vines always came first. If I could have fixed that visit then… Read More

Romaric Chavy is the 7th generation of the family to work their vines. The activity of filling bottles only started in 1982 with Romaric’s grandfather – before they supplied everything to the négoce. That first vintage began with 4,000 bottles – by 2005 Romaric’s father, Hubert was bottling up… Read More

The relatively understated roads that leave the centre of Meursault are dotted with a mix of small and rather grander buildings. The Domaine des Comtes Lafon is far from one of the largest, but is still reeks of different time; it’s outbuilding previously being kennels for hunting dogs and stables… Read More

The Château de Chorey is a (the) beautiful moated castle in Chorey-lès-Beaune, the family have been here since the end of the 19th century. Wine used to be made at the Château and then shipped to Beaune for storage – it wasn’t so convenient says Benoit Germain who is… Read More

These wines tasted in Nuits St.Georges with wine-maker Grégory Patriat on the 20th May 2009. Grégory explained that (when he is not getting into trouble for having ‘too low’ yields) he is interested to locate and widen his ‘mid-range’ whites, particularly if they come from lesser known appellations. He also… Read More

For close to the full two and a half hours’ journey-time to Nuits St.Georges it rained, then it rained some more. What with that rain and a 9:30am first appointment I was sorely in need of some kind of ‘pick-me-up’ – my rendevous with Grégory Patriat turned out to… Read More

At the top of the village square in Morey-Saint-Denis and set into the stone wall of one of the domaine’s outbuildings is a grandiose marble and stone advertisement for the Clos de Tart. Save for a sliver of Bonnes-Mares, the Clos de Tart… Read More

“I wrote the foregoing chapter in two hours directly on the typewriter, and then went out to lunch with John Dos Passos, who I consider a very forceful writer. …we lunched on rollmops, sole meuniere, civet de lievre à la cocotte, marmelade de pommes, and washed it all down, as… Read More