Domaine Bertrand Bachelet

Four generations, one place: Dezize-lès-Maranges as the starting point

The history of Domaine Bertrand Bachelet does not begin with Bertrand himself, but with his grandfather Bernard, who built the original family winery in Chassagne-Montrachet. His sons Jean-Louis, Vincent, and Jean-François managed the Domaine Bernard Bachelet together – until they split it into three independent businesses in 2008. Bertrand, son of Jean-Louis, returned to the family estate in the same year after attending wine school in Beaune and completing internships in the Rhône Valley at Château Mont-Redon as well as in Rully at Vincent Dureuil. In 2011, he finally took over the management under his own name, becoming the fourth generation of Burgundian winemakers in his family. The winery is based in Dezize-lès-Maranges, one of the three villages of the Maranges appellation in the southernmost tip of the Côte de Beaune – situated on limestone slopes with a view over the village's vineyards.

Manual labor in the vineyard, gentle vinification in the cellar

Today, Bertrand Bachelet manages 13 hectares of vineyards that stretch from Maranges in the south to Gevrey-Chambertin in the north – an unusually wide band that includes Village and Premier Cru plots in appellations such as Maranges, Chassagne-Montrachet, Saint-Aubin, Pommard, and Gevrey-Chambertin. In the vineyard, he works according to the principles of lutte raisonnée: herbicides are avoided as much as possible, soil cultivation takes priority, and all work from the harvest to pruning is done by hand. His approach combines respect for family tradition with the targeted use of modern oenology. In the cellar, the white grapes are pressed immediately upon arrival without prior crushing, and after gentle settling, they are aged in barrels with 10 to 30 percent new wood – depending on the appellation. For the red wines, the new wood content is between 20 and 50 percent. Vinification is carried out with as little intervention as possible to bring out the character of each individual terroir.

From Maranges insider tip to Gevrey-Chambertin: a range with a clear signature

The Maranges appellation – only officially recognized in 1988 and still little known internationally – forms the backbone of the range and accounts for the largest share of production. For his Maranges red wines made from Pinot Noir, Bachelet focuses on moderate extraction: the wines should not be dominated by structure, but rather bring the fruit to the fore. In addition to the home vineyards in Maranges, the range extends via Saint-Aubin and Chassagne-Montrachet to the more renowned addresses of Pommard Rouge and Gevrey-Chambertin. The white wines – Chardonnay from Saint-Aubin Premier Cru, Chassagne-Montrachet, and other plots – benefit from the lime-rich soils of the Côte de Beaune and show the freshness and mineral tension typical of these soils. Serving temperature: Whites 10–12 °C, Reds 15–17 °C. Anyone looking for Burgundian wines with a traceable origin and without an interpretative superstructure will find a reliable anchor in Bertrand Bachelet's range – from the accessible Village wine to the age-worthy Premier Cru.