Vincent Girardin Meursault 1er Cru 'Les Charmes-Dessus' 2010

Vincent Girardin, born with a passion for wine.

The history of Maison Vincent Girardin is relatively recent. In 1980, at the age of 19, Vincent Girardin, the son of a family of winegrowers based in Santenay since the 17th century, decided to strike out on his own, and began producing wine from two hectares of vines that he had inherited from his parents.

From his earliest youth Vincent had a passion for working with vines, and great respect for the potential that they represent; his ambition was to produce his own wine.

The quality of his wines was quickly recognised by connoisseurs all over the world, and this enabled him to expand his activity, focusing primarily on the great white and red wines of the Côte de Beaune.

A collection of Burgundy wines by Vincent Girardin with the same standard of excellence

To cope with the growing demand for his wines, he developed an approach that was new in Burgundy: he purchased grapes from producers who shared the same philosophy and the same high standards.

In the years between 1980 and 1990 his passion and curiosity led him to try all of the techniques that were being employed at that time. It was only in the early 2000s with the arrival of Eric Germain as winemaker, that a profound change began to take place. They decided to concentrate on the essence of the wines: the expression of the great terroirs of Burgundy. A new purity of style was born, which has now been acknowledged by all winemakers.

In 2012 Vincent Girardin sold his operation to a long-standing partner of the Maison. Mr. Nié, President of the Compagnie des Vins d'Autrefois in Beaune, naturally decided to continue with the small team of 9 people, who had been faithful to the Maison for many years. Eric Germain continues to uphold the style of the wines and Marco Caschera markets them all over the world.

Maison Vincent Girardin offer prestigious appellations coming from 9 villages in the Côte de Beaune:

Meursault, Puligny Montrachet, Chassagne Montrachet, Saint Aubin, Santenay, Savigny Les Beaune, Aloxe Corton, Volnay and Pommard.

GEOLOGY

The vines are located in the village of Meursault, in the south of the Côte de Beaune. The "Le Charme-Dessus” plot is in the south of the Meursault village, not far from Puligny Montrachet and aside "Les Genevières” and "Les Perrières” climats. Soil : CA very stony clay-limestone soil, therefore well draining, and rich in iron, with a Southern exposure to the East. The pruning is done in Guyot (Poussard) with different works during the green season. (Disbudding, trellising, topping).

VINIFICATION

Manual harvest, sorting on vine then in the vat and finally pressing (pneumatic press) to obtain a slow extraction.

AGEING

Barreling after a slight settling. The grapes are put in French oak barrels of 228 liters (15 % of new barrels) in which the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations in yeasts and native bacteria will take place. Breeding will be long on fine lees for 18 months. Without stirring. One month before bottling, the wine from different barrels is placed in a stainless steel tank for blending. Filling before gluing and light filtration before bottling. Bottling is done according to the lunar calendar.