DOMAINE CHANDON DE BRIAILLES, Savigny-les-Beaune

A Burgundian estate graced with one of the very few grand manor houses on the Côte d’Or, a delightful villa in the warmest hued of stone, set amidst formal gardens and designed by the architect of Versailles, Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The de Nicolay family, though blue blooded to the core and splendidly connected, at least in wine terms (there is a familial link to the Chandons of the eponymous Champagne house), are modest, charming and assiduously hard working. The Comtesse, who continued to toil amongst the vines until her fingers were twisted with arthritis, has now sensibly, if probably rather stiffly, handed over the reins to two of her children, Claude and her brother François. Organic since 1995, they have now, like so many in Burgundy, embraced biodynamism. Their wines are marked with a considerable finesse and a fine distinction between the various lieu-dits, which can on one hand accentuate perhaps an alluring note of charm and delicacy, on the other a pleasing depth, complexity and intensity of flavour. Being set back slightly from the RN74 which runs through nearby Nuits, Vosne, Beaune and Pommard, the appellation falls slightly under the radar, and values are good relative to those more visited neighbours.

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