Château de la Crée : A new life for the passion for wine

Winegrowers’ Portraits Santenay

Château de la Crée

A new life for the passion for wine

Native of Switzerland, Nicolas Ryhiner, director, novelist and actor, and his wife Beatrice Zurlinden, architect, scenographer and decorator, decided in the 2000s to adopt a new lifestyle to get closer to land, or more exactly to vine and wine.

In August 2004, crisscrossing France searching for a vineyard which corresponds to their aspirations, they fall in love with Château de la Crée, its clos and its 1.4-hectare vineyard. This 15th-century estate formerly owned by Nicolas Rolin, the founder of the Hôtel-Dieu of Beaune, is located in the Côte d'Or, in Santenay-le-Haut.
The initial building, pillaged, destroyed and demo­lished during the French Revolution, was recons­tructed in the 19th century, with two turrets, on splendidly protected vaulted cellars. Its stones made Nicolas and Beatrice feel an intense emotion; they immediately imagined to lay down the great wines they were going to craft, methodically and eco-friendly, in this Burgundy vineyard of 10.05 hectares in the Côtes de Beaune and Hautes Côtes de Beaune areas.



They gave birth to their first vintage thanks to 17 to 51-year old vines according to the plot, planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Nicolas, a perfectionist, took training in viticulture and oenology at the University of Wine of Suze-La-Rousse.
Besides starting the restoration of the chateau, he managed to create a high-performance tool by totally redesigning the vathouse, settled in the middle of the village, to make quality wines with the complicity of young oenologist Aline Beauné, winegrower's daughter and native of Buxy, near Cluny. “I like to express the vine. My knowledge of the vineyard enables me to obtain wines that evince the terroir”, she specifies.
The team will be strengthened by Nicolas Perrault's joining in 2005. This vineyard manager, 3rd generation of a lineage of Burgundy wine growers, is in charge of the vines of this domain which now covers 10 hectares spread over 7 villages and produces 50,000 bottles a year. Among the 18 appellations of Château de la Crée, there are a majority of Santenays in both colours, cuvées of white Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and Meursault, and among the red wines the labels Maranges, Volnay and Pommard.




Château de la Crée
11, rue Gaudin - 21590 Santenay - France
Tél. : +33 (0) 3 80 20 63 36 - Fax : +33 (0) 3 80 20 65 27
www.la-cree.fr

On the Route des Grand Crus of Burgundy, Nicolas and Beatrice decided to meet the demand of wine tourists. In this fabulous place, they welcome groups, seminars, wine enthusiasts who can book for a day, a weekend or longer stays the entire Château de la Crée whose 6 bedrooms are decorated with beds that revisit those of certain convents. Many activities are proposed: themed tastings, cooking lessons, gourmet walks in the vineyard... The Ryhiner family particularly relies on chef at home Thomas Le Courbe who makes exceptional food and wine pairings.



He recently realized for a group of journalists who were visiting the domain, in the vaulted totally renewed kitchen of the castle, an exceptional menu: a Brioche of snails, garlic cream and parsley juice to accompany the Meursault Les Tillets 2008. A Risotto of lobster and celeriac was paired with the vintage Chassagne-Montrachet First Cru Morgeot 2008. His duck fillet with blackcurrants, pear and spinach crumble, sublimated the magnificent Volnay First Cru Clos des Angles 2008. The Beggar's Purse of Epoisses cheese revealed its flavours with the Santenay First Cru La Renaissance2009 of which only 3 barrels have been produced which represents 792 bottles. The final note, a Millefeuille with red fruits and its coulis, enabled to end with the house's Vieille Fine de Bourgogne.
No doubt that Château de la Crée will be an essential step for the participants of the Contest of the Best Sommelier of France, to take place in Beaune in the end of October, 2014!

Sarah Canonge