Meet the Producers: Morgane and Christian
With their first vintage in 2016, Morgane and Christian bring old vineyards back to life on a couple of hectares of old-vine Aligote, Pinot Noir and Gamay on various small parcels around the village of Meloisey in the hills of the Haute Cotes. There is no mechanisation, only horses used or, when the vineyards are too steep, they are only worked by hand. They spray raw milk on the vines instead of sulphur and no pumping or filtration is used. Production is tiny at 4,000 bottles total.
Domaine Dandelion
domaine
Domaine Dandelion
WINEMAKERS
Morgane & Christian
VINEYARD
6 ha, organic (uncertified) & biodynamic
COUNTRY, REGION, SUBREGION
France, Burgundy, Hautes Côtes de Beaune
Meet Christian Knott, an Aussie from Bondi, Sydney, living in Burgundy since 2009. Meet Morgane Seuillot, a native Burgundian. Morgane’s mom introduced her to Christian at his espresso cart at the Saturday market in Beaune.
They farm a couple of hectares of old-vine Aligote, Pinot Noir and Gamay on various small parcels around the village of Meloisey - just over the hill from St Romain. Christian also has a day job at Chandon de Briailles.
The harvest in Hautes Côtes de Beaune is nearly a month later than the rest of Burgundy. There is no mechanisation in the vineyards, only horses used or, when the vineyards are too steep, they are only worked by hand. They choose to spray raw milk on the vines instead of sulfur and no pumping or filtration is used. Grapes are pressed in an old, wood-beam, vertical screw press, and aged in neutral oak under their house.
They produce just two wines - but what wines they are. Pure, bright and full of personality and the growers' vision. A real find considering how difficult it can be for small scale vignerons to exist in this part of France with the price of land being so high.
The paper used for their labels comes from an old-fashioned paper mill of Fontaine de Vaucluse from the Moulin Vallis Clausa. It is composed of cotton, linen, hemp and inserted bluet flowers. Morgane cuts out her labels, stamps the drawing of a bird drawn by her and then manually graphs the name. All bottle labels are applied by hand.
Cult wine alert!
Here is the latest vintage of Domaine Dandelion’s Hautes-Côtes Nature. Vibrant, pure dark fruits, incredible aromatics, and lots of lift. On the lighter side (my favourite side), but with plenty of their signature complexity and depth. Drinking well now, but this will only benefit from age.
The 2023 is an assemblage of most of their seven micro-parcels across Meloisey, Burgundy, on clay and limestone, and this year includes fruit from their two highest elevation vineyards, which in rare years are vinified separately for 'Aube'. These bring a more mineral complexity to the wine. The parcels are organic, worked by hand, treated strictly with plants for their health, and all movements in the cellar are by gravity. No filtration, fining, or added sulphur.
Beautiful wine-making = beautiful wine.
Style: Still
Colour: Red
Producer: Domaine Dandelion
Country: France
Region: Beaune, Burgundy
Grapes: Pinot Noir
ABV: 12%
Sulphur: Zero added