What's the smallest production cuvée in Burgundy?

I was reading about Duroché’s Griotte-Chambertin, which is consistently referred to as one of the smallest annual productions in Burgundy. 80 bottles, more or less. It made me wonder: are there are other wines consistently made with even smaller productions?

Marchand tawse Musigny is pretty minuscule.

One standard barrel is 25 cases of wine. So I am guessing there are hundreds of these bottlings available through various houses.

It’s definitely the smallest in red, and I think the Domaine d’Auvenay Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet is the smallest in white.

True. I think there are quite a few wines with about 300 bottles per vintage. Duroché’s wine is 80 bottles, so it’s not even a barrel.

That’s a lot of marbles

do they make this cuvee in a non-standard sized barrel then?

I have never visited a cellar in Burgundy that made less than a barrel. Do they use smaller barriques? I would be afraid of too much new wood with a cuvee that small -

Barrique is a Bordeaux term, in Burgundy, barrels are called “pièces”.

Most producers will use half-barrels, known as “feuillettes”, which are 140 liters, for élevage. It is quite rare for a given cuvée to divide exactly by 225 liters, so producers will use feuillettes, carboys and other vessels to hold the excess and the topping wine. So it is almost certain that if you visited any number of estates in Burgundy you will have seen these.

Duroché uses a small, custom barrel that isn’t new. So no need for concern, the wine is very good and not at all oaky. It’s the most collectible wine they produce, even if I would argue that the Clos de Bèze and Lavaux-Saint-Jacques Vieilles Vignes are actually the domaine’s best bottlings.

The smallest I have ever personally seen is the half barrel of Clos de Lambrays from Taupenot-Merme. 12 cases or so. 144 bottles. Larger than the Griotte from Duroche but for a long time this was one of the smallest cuvees in red.

Maybe a Marc, not commercially available, just made for family and friends?

This - and Musigny by Faiveley before they purchased Doufuleur … they also had only a half pièce … I remember a back label indicated No.142 of 148 bottles.

But the Musigny holding (below the road) of Christian Confuron was still smaller: 0.076 ha … and is now owned by Domaine Tawse,
and an even smaller plot of 0.015 ha belonged to Domaine Monthelie-Douhairet-Porcheret, but is now owned also by Tawse.

So I think the Domaine Monthelie-Douhairet-Porcheret-parcel of Musigny WAS the smallest cuvée yielding only about 50 bottles (Duroché had 0,019 ha and about 80 bottles, right?), but that has changed now … Tawse has now 0.091 ha …

Oh yes, there are a lot of smaller barrels, not only 1/2 but 1/3 or 1/4 … or even very special sizes … these are necessary when a havest yields less than (let´s say) two but more than (let´s say) one barrel … (usually used for Grand Crus, not for simpler Village wines) …
I have seen several in different cellars, all have special names (which I have forgotten), but a half barrel is called “feuillette”, but can have between 112 and 132 liter capacity … according to a winemaker …

**** I have seen several in different cellars, all have special names (which I have forgotten), but a half barrel is called “feuillette”, but can have between 112 and 132 liter capacity … according to a winemaker …*****

Thanks for the all the details - Gerhard …hmm.

What do you mean by : ( which I have forgotten ) ?

You should had memorized it or wrote it down on a piece of paper…

We “barrel” tasted the Faiveley Musigny one year. It was a small pony barrel, maybe less than a quarter size. It had a locking bung.

Haha, I was lucky actually being able to remember “feuilette” … took me more than 10 minutes …

You could have just looked up a couple of posts.

I was going to mention them. A half-barrel in a good year.

Porcheret plot was acquired by Tawse in 2014. 156sqm
you can certainly find here and there some guys claiming they produce less than 100 bottles. But who cares. What matters is terroir and musigny is the at the apex of burgundy wines. Taupenot merme Lambrays looks like a coquetry

Dude,
Actually it is the subject of the thread.

Uh…okay.