A few things recently have brought to my attention how some of my favorite Burgundy Domaines are starting to move to the next generation of winemakers. Most recently, a Jasper Morris podcast from a few months ago and a La Paulee event featuring some of those new faces:
The Lafarge sisters, Thibault Clerget, the Mugneret sisters, Lea and Pierre Lafon, Laurene Boss at Drouhin, Ghislaine’s son at Barthod [AND and Boillot] just to name a few!
I’m really curious to hear anything anyone knows about other current transitions that are happening and how people are viewing (looking forward to or not?!) these transitions. some of these producers are board stalwarts and favorites. some of this generation has been at the domaine their whole lives and some are brand new to it! any standouts or people everyone’s especially excited about?
im also a little curious, because none of my favorite producers have transitioned to new leaders during the time I’m buying their wine: does anything tend to happen to prices during or after the transition?
ive been seeing Charles Lachaux pop up a lot recently on social media (the most recent on Thibault Clerget’s page!). is he associated with Arnoux-Lachaux or totally apart?
Amelie Berthaut is very talented. how recently did she take over?
Charles van Canneyt at Hudelot-Noellat (started in 2008) but is still only around 32.
Guillaume d’Angerville
Jeremy Seysses (Dujac)
Armand Heitz (took over domaine that used to lease land to Drouhin)
I didn’t realize van Canneyt was so young! also, is the ELDER d’Angerville was also named Guillaume, correct? I’m a big fan of Jeremy Seysses. All three of those took over pretty famous wineries just before I started getting really into wine… it doesnt really seem like prices of Dujac, d’Angerville, or Hudelot took hits when they changed hands, did they?
This list is going to get pretty big pretty fast. The delightful thing about this trend is not just that Mom/Dad (well mostly Dad in Burgundy) is getting old and the kids are taking over - but that it is happening so much all over the wine world. Piedmont, Tuscany, Burgundy, Mosel (Germany) are all seeing lots of young folks coming back to the farm and being eager to learn and help out. This is a huge change from 30-40 years ago when the kids were much more likely to move away and seek careers in other fields. As much as we bemoan increasing prices, these same increases are making wine production a much more attractive career.
I’m fine with this being a long list. This new generation of winemakers is about my age, so it is likely that most of my wine drinking career will be supporting them and buying their wines! Burgundy is a great place to start with this list because the family element is so strong even in the big companies like Drouhin and Faiveley. but you’re right, and the fact that you are I think makes this a very interesting conversation. there are a lot of giants of the wine world who are starting to hand off the reigns!
If you listened to Jasper’s ‘new generation’ zoom, then you know he also mentioned that this isn’t a unique place in time. With over 400 domaines in Burgundy this is happening constantly. Every year there’s a transition happening at several if not dozens of domaines.
If memory serves - Amelie Berthaut started to take over winemaking at both her father’s & her Mother’s family (Gerbet) holdings and put together the new hyphenated domaine in 2013. My limited understanding is the transition was short vs many others where the older generation stays on for years & years continuing to influence and assist.
I had to slow down my listening when it got to Barthod because it was so hard to understand what he was saying. but your point (and Jaspers) are still true. I dont think it makes it less interesting to look at how the transitions happen differently at different domaines and between different generations!
I thought they were relevant to any discussion of how changes in generations impact pricing - in these cases, not much. Prices have gone up over time, but pretty much consistently with other higher end Burgundy producers.
Lucie Coutoux granddaughter of Michel Niellon (RIP) of Domaine Michel Niellon. There are some extraordinary wines coming out of this address. She is the new guard.
I’m most curious about Clément Barthod-Boillot. What an incredible array of 1er Cru at a single address (as well as Beaujolais). As much as I love the Barthod and Boillot wines (I’ve been buying Barthod since the 1995 vintage) if they could have a touch less austerity in their youth, that would be great.
In a perfect world, everything would be like Mugneret-Gibourg, delicious whenever you choose to open them.
I would say that he is pretty well established by now: above all, he is making the wines he wants to make, and has progressed piece by piece to the point that you could say he has a “mature style”, even if he still has plenty of projects to carry out. Pierre is 1982 vintage, the same as Raphaël Coche. There are a few others around that age, e.g. Loïc Dugat-Py, Bertrand Dugat, Arnaud Mortet, who are also very well established now as they approach their 40th birthdays.
The domaines that are going through a transition right now, or are about to go through a transition soon, are often those that last went through a transition in the early 1980s. The premise of the thread is quite correct in that many of those estates are what might be considered “leading domaines”, so Burgundy’s familiar dramatis personae is going to suddenly look very different in just a few more years.
There are also some new domaines floating around. I mentioned Armand Heitz and Heitz Lochardet above, and another one to look at starting pretty much from scratch is Maison MC Thiriet. Have only had regional wines from them but they seem like one to watch. http://grandcruselections.com/maison-mc-thiriet
