Jean-Claude Boisset

Letting the Vines do the Work

Jean-Claude Boisset Winery filled with mystery and murmurs of the past with a watchful view over the Cote and in close proximity to the premier crus.

Nuit – Saint Georges is a commune in the arrondissement of Beaune of the Cote- D’or department in eastern France in the Burgundy region.

Located here is where you will find an old Ursulins Convent built from Burgundian stone and a large walled garden that houses, apple, yews, boxwood and other fruit trees as well as a labyrinthine cellar that was left by the nuns as they were forced to flee during the French Revolution.

This is now the home of Jean-Claude Boisset Winery filled with mystery and murmurs of the past with a watchful view over the Cote and in close proximity to the premier crus.

Read more about the history of Jean-Claude Boisset Winery

The history of Jean-Claude Boisset Winery

It all began when Jean Claude was 18 years old and began trading wines as a negociant and three years later purchased a small vineyard that needed a little love and attention.  

His business was so successful that in the 1980’s was listed on the stock exchange.   

It took him 30 years to become the largest wine producer and France’s third largest wine group with an annual turnover €200 million.

Jean Claude is on the board of directors today, but it is his son Jean Charles and daughter Nathalie who run the business today.

Over the decades the Boisset family has taken over many Burggundian businesses and many of these acquisitions involved vineyards which they amalgamated with their vineyards.

Since 2002 Jean – Claude Boisset has been transformed from a negocient into a viticulturist and vinifier with the help of oenologist Gregory Patriat who is carefully selective with the grapes and produces in limited qualities using meticulous detail and allowing the vines to do the work.

Today the family collection includes wineries that share over 18 centuries of combined wine making heritage and tradition in some of the most prestigious terroirs from Burgundy to the South of France, Napa Valley in California and on the Russian River.

Wines from Jean-Claude Boisset

The Vineyards

Jean Claude Boisset vineyards have organic and biodynamic farming methods implemented and Charles has received many awards and has been listed as one of the fifty most important people in the world on the “Power list” of the Decanter magazine.

The family strives to create authentic wines that have very little human interference and this is shown in their Burgundy Collection.

All grape parcels are selected to ensure maturity of the grapes and are then manually sorted on a vibrating table.

The vats are filled by gravity and cold pre- fermentation maceration follows for about 6 to 7 days.

The vatting room contains 41 wooden vats with the capacity of 15 to 18 barrels, making it possible to produce different batches separately with more than 30 appellations vinified in them.

The Winery

Maturation in new barrels is not used as a rule and the wines in their collection are known to be fruity and rustic, presenting their own personalities.

Malolactic fermentation takes a year and it is then bottled unfiltered.  They use native yeasts and never use more than 30% oak.

Their collection of 39 white wines is basically pressed and then put into barrels and the vat maturation process dispenses with new vats to ensure the character of the vine and nothing else seeps through.

Red wines are vatted by gravity without crushing and no yeasts, tannins or enzymes, are added to avoid altering the character of the terroir.

The cap is punched manually twice a day from the start of fermentation onwards with sugar being added at the very end if prolonging the process of fermentation is required.

Maceration lasts for three weeks and once the sugars have been entirely converted, the grapes are then pressed and then transported directly into the barrel by gravity.

The wines

Their red wine selection consists of 52 bottles and limited yields have increased the quality of the wines at Jean Claude Boisset wineries.

Aloxe– Corton Premier Cru “Les Valozieres” 2014 is 100% Pinot Noir and originates from the Aloxe Corton Appellation where the soils are heavy and deep with lots of exposure to the east.  The vines are 50 years old and the vines are high trimmed without fertilisers.  This wine is a bright ruby red with aromas of black cherry and violet with a coffee end note

Bourgogne Aligote 2011 consists of 100% Aligote grapes with clay and limestone based soils.  A careful selection of the grapes is necessary as there are different variations between the villages which could alter the taste of the wine.  It is a brilliant clear gold white wine with aromas of lemon

Visit Jean-Claude Boisset Winery

A visit to the winery is made by appointment as many of the French estates do, but you are able to see the cellar and feel the presence of the nuns that lived there centuries ago whilst taking in the peace and tranquillity that spreads throughout the entire estate as you get to experience why the vines do the work when you enjoy the taste that has been so ambitiously created by a family that has passion and experience.

Contact information

Jean-Claude Boisset
Website: http://www.jcboisset.com/en/
Phone: +33 3 80 62 61 61

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Address

Jean-Claude Boisset
5 Rue du Moulin
21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges, Burgundy, France

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