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The winery's roots date back to 1926 when Jean Confuron, from a Vosne-Romanée winemaking family, married Anne-Marie Bouchard from Premo. They combined their inherited vineyards, laying the foundation for the winery's initial business, and by the 1930s, they were among the few in the region to insist on self-bottling and selling their wines. After Jean Confuron's death in 1965, his two sons, Jean-Jacques and Christian, ran the winery together until 1980, after which the brothers peacefully separated. In 1981, Jean-Jacques founded an independent winery under his own name, but tragically passed away two years later. The winery was then managed by his widow, Andrée Noëllat, and daughter, Sophie.
In 1985, Sophie partnered with Alain Meunier, a friend she met during her studies, to run the winery. Three years later, Andrée inherited one hectare of top-tier vineyards from her grandfather, Charles Noëllat, including prime plots in Romanée-Saint-Vivant and Nuits Boudots, propelling this mid-sized family winery into the ranks of boutique wineries with Grand Cru vineyards. Today, the winery is in its fourth generation, with Sophie and Alain's son, Louis Meunier, serving as chief winemaker. He maintains the family tradition while refining winemaking details, resulting in wines that are fresher and brighter, better reflecting contemporary aesthetics of pure terroir.
Region
The winery's total vineyard area is only about 8.5 hectares, yet it is scattered across 13 appellations in the Côte de Nuits, covering a full range from village-level to Grand Cru, with all plots located in prime locations within the Côte de Nuits. The estate comprises Grand Cru vineyards in Romanée-Saint-Vivant and Clos de Vougeot; Premier Cru vineyards include core plots such as Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Boudots, Les Châtelots and Les Feusselottes in Chamborough-Musigny, and Vosne-Romanée Beaux Monts; and several village and regional vineyards. The grape variety is predominantly Pinot Noir, accounting for approximately 95%, with only small quantities of Chardonnay and Arigault.
Even more commendable is the estate's unwavering commitment to organic farming as a pioneer in Burgundy. In 1989, inspired by the theories of renowned soil microbiologist Claude Bourguignon, the team began a complete transition to organic cultivation, achieving full organic certification for the entire estate in 1991, far ahead of the industry's trend of following suit. For decades, the winery has maintained a strict vegan approach, avoiding herbicides, chemical pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers. Through natural grass cultivation and horse-plowing, they preserve soil health and microbial diversity. They also rigorously control grape yields, employing green harvesting and thinning to ensure concentrated fruit and expressive terroir. Harvesting is entirely done manually, with two rounds of hand sorting in the vineyard and cellar, retaining only healthy, evenly ripe grapes to control wine quality from the source.
In winemaking, the winery adheres to the core principle of "fruit first, oak serving terroir," ensuring that oak flavors never overpower the wine's inherent terroir characteristics. The overall style leans towards traditional restraint.
After entering the cellar, the destemming ratio is adjusted according to the vintage, avoiding mechanical crushing to preserve the whole grapes. This is followed by 4 to 6 days of cold maceration, followed by slow extraction of color and delicate tannins in sealed fermentation tanks, while preserving the freshness of the fruit aromas to the greatest extent possible. The alcoholic fermentation stage initiates natural fermentation through a slow, controlled temperature rise, maintaining a temperature of around 30°C for approximately 12 days. During this period, manual cap pressing is performed three times daily, with minimal use of the skin-drenching process to reduce oxidation risks from air contact and prioritize the preservation of the fine texture of the tannins. Immediately after fermentation, the wine is separated from the skins, avoiding prolonged maceration to prevent fruit flavor loss and harsh tannins.
The fermented wine is then directly transferred to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation, followed by aging for 15 to 18 months. The oak barrels are sourced from renowned Burgundy cooperages Rémond and Rousseau, with the proportion of new oak increasing according to the wine's classification: approximately 30% to 50% for village wines, 50% to 75% for Premier Cru, and 100% new oak for Grand Cru. Under the fourth-generation winemaker Louis, the proportion of new oak has been moderately reduced, resulting in a fresher and brighter style for the wine. Before bottling, only light clarification is performed, and bottling is done without filtration. Sulfur dioxide is added as little as possible throughout the process to preserve the complexity and long-term aging potential of the wine to the greatest extent.
