Sylvie Esmonin

Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this estate profile.

Prior to Sylvie Esmonin heading her eponymous  estate, it was known as Domaine Michel Esmonin et Fille. After studying in Dijon, Sylvie worked in various capacities as a consulting oenologist. She says that she needed several years of independent work to weigh her decision and commitment to come back to Gevrey-Chambertin and succeed her father at the family estate. She came back to vinify the 1990 vintage, and from then on the whole production became estate bottled. Otherwise, all decisions were made by father and daughter together, until progressively Sylvie assumed all responsibilities (with the possible exception of plowing, Michel Esmonin’s favorite vineyard chore).

The estate consists of 7.8  hectares, half owned, half rented: 80 ares of Bourgogne Rouge, 60 ares in Côtes-de-Nuits, 10 ares of Bourgogne Aligoté, 20 ares of Bourgogne Blanc, 20 ares in Volnay-Santenots, 1.7 hectares of the 1er cru Clos-Saint-Jacques and 4.4 hectares in Gevrey-Chambertin. The average age of the vines is high, most were planted by Sylvie’s grandfather and some by her father. The Clos-Saint-Jacques, considered a Grand Cru in everything but name, is planted right behind Sylvie's house and is essentially her backyard.

The winery is a large facility, with a beautiful stone cellar underneath. All grapes are destemmed, crushed and fermented in open wood vats, then put in barrels for the secondary fermentation and aging. The barrels are of various ages to accommodate each different cuvée, with only Clos St-Jacques using a high proportion of new wood, usually 75%.

The first cuvée is a  Bourgogne rouge, from vineyards outside Gevrey-Chambertin; it is light, fruity and lively. The Côte de Nuits-Villages comes from vineyards in Brochon, a small village between Gevrey and Fixin, from the lieux-dits La Croix Viollette and Les Vignois; it is smoky and peppery, with ripe tannins and sweet fruit. The Gevrey-Chambertin comes from 30-year-old vines in the lieu-dit Les Crais; it is quite rich and structured, with good ripeness and dark fruit aromas. The largest cuvée, Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes, comes from various plots of 60-year-old vines; it ages in 50% new wood and has toasty oak notes, is very ripe, round and chewy, with intense berry fruit. The Clos St-Jacques, as a young wine, often tastes drier and lighter than the VV cuvée; with some bottle  age, though, it shows great finesse and complexity. It is a wine of elegance more than obvious power, and it gracefully integrates subtle fruit and pleasant oaky notes.