Winegrowers’ portraits Burgundy
Bouchard Père et Fils
THE ALLIANCE OF TWO DYNASTIES
Bouchard Père & Fils is a wine house with a clear mission: to become an ambassador for the wealth and uniqueness of fine wines from Burgundy while remaining faithful to the region’s tradition of excellence and our company’s fundamental values: purity in the interpretation of the terroirs, rigour, meticulous attention to details and creativity. They have painstakingly selected the most exquisite vineyards in the Côte d’Or, as a jeweler would choose the rarest stones for a piece of jewelry, in order to transcend them and bring out their essence ...
Bouchard Père & Fils was founded in 1731 in Beaune, the historic capital of Burgundy wines, and is one of the region’s oldest wine houses, perpetuating traditional practices for more than 9 generations and 280 years of history. Managed today by the Henriot family, it offers an extraordinary mosaic of the finest Burgundy appellations, with some hundred climats. The first plot of the domain was located in Volnay 1st cru Les Caillerets. Bouchard Père & Fils now as unique portfolio of wines from Grand Crus, First crus, Village and regional appellations all over Burgundy: Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Corton, Corton-Charlemagne, Clos de Vougeot,Chambertin. It keeps a close eye over its four prestigious monopolies and exclusivities: Beaune Grèves 1st cru red Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus (3,92 ha); Beaune 1st Cru white Clos Saint-Landry, Monopole (1,98 ha); Beaune 1st Cru rouge Clos de la Mousse, Monopole (3,36 ha); Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru La Cabotte (0,21 ha).
Christophe Bouchard
In the tradition of the great Burgundy master winemakers and craftsmen of all unique trades, Bouchard Père & Fils strives to understand each terroir, to manage each vine and check every bunch of grapes that go into the fine wines that will wear the company’s livery. The Bouchard Père & Fils team works hard to ensure that the domain’s requirements and meticulous approach are applied, with the precision of a goldsmith at each stage of a wine’s creation.
The Bouchard family was determined to remain as close as possible to the vineyards and respect the age-old practices used to produce wine. When the Henriot family with its extensive experience in Champagne joined forces with Bouchard Père & Fils in 1995, it naturally continued this quest for perfection from the vineyards to the cellars.
The company’s wine growers, enologists and technicians can now harness state-of-the-art technology to perpetuate the Bouchard Père & Fils philosophy. All Bouchard Père & Fils vineyards in the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits use certified sustainable viticulture. The company has been pursuing its objective of practicing ever more environmentally-friendly viticulture for many years.
Château de Beaune“We often hear that products have to adapt to the trend and the tastes of the consumers. On the contrary we think that Burgundy fine wines, expression of the terroirs they stem from, are real references. They must not been disguised by the enologists. Such an approach would be nonsense, as if an architect, in order to follow the trend, would deface a historical building.” Joseph Henriot confides.
“We keep a close eye on the market, constantly challenging ourselves to do better. This is the well-known complexity of Burgundy but also its strength: with the Grand Crus and First Crus it is important to respect the terroirs, whereas for the villages and regional appellations we can adopt some trends without of course being followers of fashion...”, Christophe Bouchard, general manager since 2010, adds.
“We are fortunate to have a domain that is at the top of the pyramid of Burgundy appellations, a phenomenal estate consisting of First and Grand Crus which are among the Côte’s most prestigious. Every year, every wine that we produce has a story to tell, and what sets us apart is that we listen and transcribe that story with all the patience and infinite attention to detail that it deserves. My team has to respect these Great Wines and let them express themselves”, Philippe Prost, Cellar Master, completes.
“Harvesting takes place over 18 days on average, across the 130 hectares of vineyards, with sometimes 3 or 4 days when we stop due to bad weather. The size of the harvesting team is quite impressive: over 350 people in total, 250 in the vineyards and 100 assembled to receive the harvested grapes, on the sorting tables and in the vat room. In 1992 we decided to start using convoys of small trucks, over 20 of them, to ensure we do not exceed one hour from the time the bunches of grapes are cut to the time they go into tank. In the winery, since 2005, it has been a winemaker’s dream come true: the grapes are transferred into tank 100% by gravity. Not only are the grapes not damaged but the gravity also prevents the seeds from being crushed and thereby preserves the fruit in the grape and avoids unwanted bitterness”, Philippe Prost continues.
During this period, the house does not carry out the traditional stirring, but rolls the barrels instead: each barrel is rolled around the cellar and spends one night on its end. The great advantage of this is that CO2 and freshness are preserved.
Established in the Château de Beaune since the early 19th century, Bouchard Père & Fils is the guardian of this former royal fortress, the earliest parts of which date from the 11th century and which was completed in the 15th century by King Louis XI. The domain’s maturing cellars, built 10 metres underground, over a surface area of 4,000 sq.m., provide optimal conditions for the slow ageing of the wines. The wines must undergo a resting and ageing period to ensure that the purity of the aromas and the organoleptic profile, so particular to each terroir, can express themselves. These cellars provide ideal ambient conditions. With the natural humidity and constant temperature with walls of more than 7 meters thick in some places, the Grand Crus benefit from an environment which is perfectly suited to the unhurried ageing of the wines from their earliest age.
Today, millions of bottles rest in the cellars, protected from vibration and temperature variations, including a rare collection of wines which pre-date phylloxera, among which mythical fine wines: Meursault Charmes 1846, Montrachet 1864, Beaune Grèves Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus 1865... that benefit from natural and ideal preservation conditions.
Located in the heart of Beaune, this extra-ordinary site is listed in the “supplementary inventory” of “Monuments Historiques” and offers an exceptional setting for visitors. During an exclusive one-hour guided tour organized in small groups of a maximum of 12 people, visitors are accompanied by an expert guide who opens up the doors of Château de Beaune to reveal its deepest secrets. It is also the perfect opportunity to take stock of centuries past, the monumental work accomplished by 9 generations of the Bouchard family and by the other great dynasty who followed them, the Henriot family. It is very exciting to see these venerable bottles, dating from Napoleon III’s reign, which have journeyed through history intact for over 150 years. The visit ends with a commented tasting of six wines, among which Beaune Grèves Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus, symbol of the house. Bouchard Père & Fils has held the Vignoble & Découvertes label since 2012.
Bouchard Père & Fils now represents the biggest vineyard in the Côte d’Or with an average production of 600,000 bottles a year. Christophe Bouchard trusts in the future of his fine wines:
“I am convinced that Burgundy can only come out on top. Bouchard Père & Fils is lucky to have a team of highly trained technical experts, which has been stable for over ten years. We have one of the most beautiful domains in the Côte d’Or and will continue to produce the greatest red and white wines in Burgundy”.
With 150 references of Burgundy wines, the house relies on a strong network with the prestigious restaurant business and quality cellar shops, but also with loyal individual customers. Moreover, with some hundred distributors and importers accross the world, the house’s wines are served in the most beautiful restaurants but also by airline and cruise companies.
Bouchard Père & Fils has become through time a symbol of refinement and elegance on the international level of fine wines. That is the peculiarity that the house wants to perpetuate and promote.
www.bouchard-pereetfils.com
