Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru - Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron 2018

Despite its reduced surface area of ​​8 ha, this Burgundy estate produces prestigious appellations sought after by amateurs such as Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Chambolle Musigny and excellent wines designed for aging. In total, the estate produces around fifteen vintages, composed almost exclusively of red wines. They are appreciated for their elegance, the great finesse of the tannins and their silky character.

We owe the creation of this estate in the 1930s to the initiative of Jean Confuron. At that time he began bottling wines on the property. His son Jean-Jacques Confuron continued his work with his brother Christian who has worked alongside him since 1965, and created the eponymous name in 1980. But things changed when Jean-Jacques Confuron fell ill and died in 1982. His wife Andrée and her daughter Sophie must then take charge of the management of the estate. Sophie was an au pair in Ireland. Back in Burgundy, torn between the idea of ​​reselling the site or continuing operations, she decided to take the plunge. The choice was not easy at first because she has no training, especially since the advice for maintaining vine plants and making wine is very divergent. She then preferred to enroll at the Lycée viticole de Beaune to receive adequate training to become a farmer. During these training sessions, she met Alain Meunier who helped her with the 1985 harvest. The latter became her husband. Together, the young couple brought the estate back to life. The vines are superbly located in the best sites of the Côte-de-Nuits, but the cellars are worn out by time. The majority of stock was sold to local traders. The couple made improvements by building new cellars equipped with the latest technology in 1989. These were equipped with pneumatic presses and temperature control. The yields of the vines were reduced and from 1991, the estate adopted organic production methods and no longer sold wine in bulk.