Domaine Sylvie Esmonin winery
A Burgundy domaine that has been catapulted into the front ranks of Gevrey producers in the last decade. Until the late 1980s, the domaine was producing fairly average wines with the majority being sold in bulk to negociants. The catalyst for change was Michel's daughter, Sylvie, who joined her father at the domaine in 1986. She trained as a consultant oenologist in M con as well as studying viticulture in Montpellier. The wines are extremely stylish with typical Gevrey firmness but displaying also a silky elegance and tremendous finesse. Domaine Sylvie Esmonin is a Burgundian estate comprising 8 hectares (20 acres) of cultivated vineyards across the C te de Nuits and C te de Beaune wine-producing districts. The majority of the wines produced by the estate are Pinot Noir-based, but it does also have a single white wine within its portfolio made from Chardonnay grapes. The estate was previously known as Domaine Michel Esmonin et Fille after the father of the current proprietor Sylvie Esmonin. Domaine Sylvie Esmonin has 5ha (12 acres) of vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin, approximately 2ha (5 acres) of which are located within Gevrey-Chambertin's most renowned Premier Cru climate Clos Saint-Jacques. The estate has also recently acquired vineyard plots in the appellations of Volnay Santenots and C te de Nuits-Villages, with additional sites situated in Bourgogne Rouge, Bourgogne Aligote and Bourgogne Blanc. No herbicides have been used since 1990 and the domaine is farmed more or less organically, though not systematically so.