| Region of production: | Côte de Beaune |
| Winery Location: | Puligny-Montrachet |
| Year Established: | 1920s |
Vineyard Holdings
9.24 ha
- Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru: 0.14 ha Chardonnay, planted in 1965
- Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru: 0.12 ha Chardonnay, planted in 1938
- Puligny-Montrachet Champs Canet Premier Cru: 1 ha Chardonnay, planted in 1959
- Puligny-Montrachet Combettes Premier Cru: 0.96 ha Chardonnay, planted in 1954
- Puligny-Montrachet Folatières Premier Cru: 0.27 ha Chardonnay, planted in 1989
- Puligny-Montrachet Garenne Premier Cru: 0.99 ha Chardonnay, planted in 1989
- Puligny-Montrachet Perrières Premier Cru: 0.48 ha Chardonnay, planted in 1989
- Puligny-Montrachet Referts Premier Cru: 0.7 ha Chardonnay, planted in 1964
Top Wines Produced
- Montrachet Grand Cru: made from wine purchased from Baron Thénard
- Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru: made from purchased grapes
- Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
- Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
- Puligny-Montrachet Champ-Canet Premier Cru
- Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes Premier Cru
- Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières Premier Cru
- Puligny-Montrachet Les Perrières Premier Cru
- Puligny-Montrachet Les Referts Premier Cru
Average Total Production
- 120,000 bottles
Summary
The recent history of the Etienne Sauzet domaine demonstrates the difficulty of keeping a domaine intact in Burgundy’s modern era. Etienne Sauzet originally founded the domaine in the 1920s, and by the 1950s he had expanded it to 7.5 hectares; he also commenced bottling under his own name. In 1989, Etienne’s daughter divided the vineyards between her three children, Jean-Marc Boillot, Henri Boillot, and Jeanine Boudot – though she did not stipulate that the domaine had to remain intact. Jean-Marc took his vines and launched his own label in 1991. Henri leased his share back to the domaine while focusing his own attention on the Boillot domaine and négociant business. And finally, Jeanine and her husband, Gérard Boudot, continued to run the Etienne Sauzet domaine. In addition, they started a négociant business to replace the loss of Jean-Marc’s third of the domaine. For this reason, the wines are always labeled “Etienne Sauzet,” regardless of whether the fruit is purchased or from the estate. Today, Gérard and Jeanine’s daughter and son-in-law, Emilie and Benoît Riffault, manage the domaine.
Style & Vinification Techniques
Domaine Etienne Sauzet aims for concentrated grapes via proper pruning and balanced vines; a green harvest is generally avoided. The grapes are picked at physiological maturity, taking great pains to avoid over-ripeness and botrytis. After sorting in the vineyard and winery, the grapes are whole-cluster pressed, and the juice is settled overnight. All of the wines except for the Bourgogne Blanc are vinified in oak with native yeasts. The amount of new oak is 20% for the village-level wines, 30% for the premiers crus and 40% for the grands crus. The wines are aged in barrel for 12 months before being racked to stainless steel, where they settle for six months prior to bottling. The wines are fined and filtered prior to bottling.
Producer Website: Etienne Sauzet