Maison Vincent Girardin

In contrast to many time-honoured domaines, Vincent Girardin only founded his house in 1980. Although he comes from a traditional wine-growing family in Santenay, he set up his own business with just two hectares.

From the very beginning, Vincent Girardin signed contracts with other winegrowers to buy in grapes, as he would not have been able to realise his vision with just two hectares. His wines quickly became known for their quality, but he was still in an experimental phase until the year 2000. It was not until the early 2000s, when he was able to engage Eric Germain as cellar master, that the style of the house that is so well-known today became clear. The two decided to concentrate on the essentials of the wines: To bring the expression of Burgundy's magnificent terroirs into the glass with complete clarity. This also included working as sustainably and organically as possible. In the meantime, biodynamic farming was practised, but this could not be maintained due to the many contracts with supplier winegrowers. Nevertheless, the standards are very high for everyone and are subject to the "Très Haute Couture" code of viticultural practices: no herbicides or insecticides, deep ploughing, use of natural compost from farms in the Burgundy region, high trellising for better photosynthesis, manual harvesting with sorting in the vineyard and in the fermentation cellar. In addition, slow natural fermentation in the cellar, long maturation on full or fine lees, ageing with a low proportion of new wood and observance of the lunar calendar during all phases of vinification.