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Our Domain

OUR DOMAIN

Alain Jeanniard domain is a small domain of 17 acres located in the village of Morey-St-Denis. The domain holds several appellations specific to the following wines: Morey-St-Denis Les Chenevery, Pommard les Saussilles et Nuits St-Georges Les Poisets.

With the award of the High Environmental Value (HVE) label, the estate’s constant work to reduce its ecological impact and offer healthy wines has finally been recognized. After 20 years of calculated control, without any weed killers or insecticides and moderate treatments against diseases, the domain continues in this direction. With wines of ever better quality and a preserved environment.

In 2003, Alain Jeanniard created a trading company called: “Grands Vins de Bourgogne Alain Jeanniard”. He buys the grapes from the best plots in order to offer a wider range of wines, vinified by him.

THE TERROIR

The terroir brings together many climatic factors: exposure to the sun and winds, sensitivity to frost, or the impacts of tending to the vines. The soil and subsoil constitute the base. It owes a lot to geology, but also to phenomena such as erosion.

There are 3 main components to take into account in the Côte d´Or terroir. Limestone, clay and silica. In general, a sandy and grainy soil favors light wines, clay favors the robustness of reds, color, sugar, tannin. The limestone favors the sugar and the powerful bouquet, a soil loaded with iron oxide is ideal for the color and the bouquet.

Given the extent of the Burgundy vineyard, there is not one terroir but very diverse terroirs. Also called “climates”.

Specifically, in Morey-Saint-Denis, the vineyard rests on calcareous and clay-limestone soils from the Middle Jurassic: white oolite from the Bathonian at the top of the hill, limestone with entroques from the Bajocian at the bottom of the slope. Exposed to the east, it is located between 220 and 270 meters above sea level. Directly above the village, the valley alters certain exposures and makes the terrain more marlacious.

Eco-responsible methods

The estate is certified High Environmental Value and practices reasoned pest management, which means that treatments against diseases and pests are moderate depending on the symptoms and that only environmentally friendly products are used.

Weedkillers are of course prohibited, so the soil is maintained by regular plowing. Yields are controlled by appropriate pruning and a “green” harvest at the start of August. To guarantee an excellent sanitary state of the grapes, we also practice a partial stripping of the stems at the end of June.

Quality grapes

Only high quality raw material (grapes) will make it possible to obtain wines that meet the expectations of the domain. Thus the harvest is picked and sorted by hand at the ideal stages of maturity, health and climatic conditions.

Vinification and aging

The vinification is traditional with 50% whole harvest (whole bunches in the tank), 4 weeks in tanks and stomping down with the feet, as our parents did.

The red and white wines are aged for 16 months in oak barrels, 15% of which are new. The use of sulfur (SO2) is very moderate and calculated, in order to keep the freshness of the varietal aromas of the grapes.

Traditional bottling

All production is bottled at the estate, around 40,000 bottles per year. It is carried out manually without clarifying the wine using a protein substance which coagulates on contact with the tannins (trapping and eliminating the particles in suspension). And in the respect of hygiene and traditions.