2020 Chandon de Briailles 1er Cru Pernand-Vergelesses Ile des Vergelesses Blanc

WINEMAKER: Claude & François de Nicolay
REGION: Burgundy, FR
VARIETY: Chardonnay
VITICULTURE: Certified Biodynamic

Family owned since 1834, Domaine Chandon de Briailles was very effectively restructured in 1982 by Nadine de Nicolay. With considerable effort and tenacity, she was able to bring the Domaine back to its former glory. Today, her children, Claude and François de Nicolay run the business together, sister and brother. Both were strongly influenced by the hands-on approach of their mother, and have been running the Domain together since 2001, along with 6 other full time employees.

In the 1980s, Nadine very quickly realised the negative impacts of synthetic chemicals on the vineyards, and began nurturing the plants to ween off the treatments. The first purchases were lots of traditional mechanical vineyard tools, and a major reduction of chemical treatments, and then even a reduction to tiny amounts of copper and sulphur. 

In 2001, the process towards full conversion to Biodynamics was put in place. And today, the team are able to manage their vineyards with no use of sulphur treatments, and very few sprays of copper. This is only possible with extremely careful canopy management. 

Vinifications are done in a way that is, according to Claude, "Neo-Classical". By this, she means the processes and intentions are very traditional, but modern understanding and scientific tools allow ultra precise and clean fermentations, with perfectly stable and delicious wines at the end. All this despite the wines being made with no safety nets, temperature control or oenological inputs.