Producer Domaine Sauveterre

FRANCE, MACON

Jérôme Guichard is a quiet, humble and hard-working boy who spends most of his life among the vineyards. In 2011, after several years of apprenticeship, he bought an old farm and just under three hectares of old Chardonnay vineyards in the commune of Montbellet, in Mâconnais, from a man of similar principles, the natural wine legend Guy Blanchard. Both the farm and the vineyard had been owned by Monsieur Blanchard's family for generations, with the vines being grown in the only way the family knew how, organically, since 1917. In this less historic part of Burgundy, it is practiced mixed agriculture, guaranteeing great biodiversity. Although he already had a name for making some of the best wines in the region, until 1998 Guy's main concern was looking after a herd of goats.The vineyards are surrounded by woodlands and planted on that classic Burgundian mix of clay and limestone, whose proportion varies between crus. Jérôme continues his mentor's work, with the aim of helping vines stay healthy in a natural way, through the use of organic herbal and tea plants. Likewise in the cellar the wines refine sur lie until they are ready and nothing is added at any stage. The result is a Chardonnay unlike any we've tried, with a liveliness and a spectrum of aromatics that we rarely associate with grapes. Recently, Jérôme has acquired just over one hectare of Gamay vineyards where the Mâconnais meets the Beaujolais in Leynes. Planted in 1946, the vines are found in the woods at the foot of a volcanic mountain and possess a palpable sense of energy from its black volcanic soils.