My tutor would be the extraordinarily kind and obliging Justin Girardin, a young vigneron from the village of Santenay who represents the 13th generation of his family to farm in Burgundy. Justin Girardin will be familiar to many JN customers, having recently showcased his wines at our Annual Portfolio Tastings in Belfast and Dublin last year, and his uncle Vincent Girardin’s wines would’ve graced our shelves some years prior. Justin’s wines have become real customer and staff favourites in recent times, with his hands-off winemaking style producing elegant ‘vins de terroirs’ that represent excellent value in the wider Burgundy context, as well as receiving well-deserved critical acclaim from experts the world over. Being similar in age and having gelled with Justin at work events before, I was delighted when he agreed that to host me as a ‘stagiaire’!

I arrived in Santenay on Friday 13th September. The day held greater trepidation than the date would already suggest as this was ‘results day’ for the hallowed ‘MW’. My anxiety was briefly quelled by the stunning natural beauty of Santenay and its surroundings as I entered the village for the first time. Patchworks of vineyards rose steadily from the basin of a ‘combe’ in which the settlement sits, rising to high hills on its western flanks collared by the brilliant white of exposed limestone cliffs, the crown of which was adorned by three large crosses: the ‘Montagne des Trois Croix’. Justin’s family domaine lay at the foot of these steep escarpments in ‘Santenay-le-Haut’ – the upper part of the village. There in its charming courtyard, I was greeted by Justin’s parents – Jacques (a well-regarded vigneron in his own right) and Valérie Girardin, as well as Justin’s partner Blandine, also a winemaker and who has worked for some very prestigious Burgundy domaines in her time. After settling into my new home for the evening I took a brief respite before we tackled the day, and following a fidgety, fever-dream-laded sleep I awoke to my phone vibrating off the bedside table. The results were in! As I fumbled to open my email app and scanned furiously through the text, I gleaned enough through strained eyes to capture the phrase “delighted to confirm” before my elation took hold. I’d passed my Stage One exams and was now a Stage Two Master of Wine Student! Celebrations would have to wait until tomorrow evening, however, as work in the vineyards beckoned.

With the harvest just a couple of days off, my first task was to take density readings of some plots with Justin to ascertain the ripeness levels of the grapes. We made our way to the village of Pommard, five villages to the north and just south of the city of Beaune – the epicentre of the ‘Côte’ and the Burgundy wine trade. Using a refractometer, we took readings in the hillside climat of ‘Les Vignots’ and the plain vineyard of ‘Les Cras’. The process is simple: one randomly collects grapes from the site along multiple rows, crushes them in a bag, and pours the juice into the tube-like refractometer. Then, looking through the lens of the instrument like a telescope, one can read the refractive index of the juice on a scale which indirectly measures the must weight and expresses it as an approximate level of potential alcohol upon completed fermentation. Other ripeness indicators, such as acidity, skin-to-pulp ratio, seed lignification, and flavour development, Justin determines by taste. The readings are positive in these vineyards, showing around 12.5% potential alcohol – ideal for Pinot Noir. This is a relief given that the vintage up to this point has been a tricky one where - like in the UK and Ireland - rain and cool conditions meant for difficult flowering in the spring (inhibiting the potential crop) and a challenging ripening period over the summer, with Downy and Powdery mildews and later Botrytis affecting grape health, ripeness, and overall yields considerably. Despite this, the weather was forecasted to be largely ideal during the harvest period ahead, promising the chance to snatch the vintage quality from the jaws of defeat.

The rest of the weekend was spent accompanying Justin to tastings with potential clients where I got the rare opportunity to taste through his entire portfolio – including the fabled Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022 and some utterly divine Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru reds, in addition to his delectable range of Santenays. On Saturday evening, on the cusp of harvest, Justin invited me to his beautiful home in the centre of Santenay ville for supper with him and Blandine in which we toasted to my MW exam success and the harvest ahead with a couple of very special bottles: Domaine Roulot Auxey-Duresses Blanc 2019 and J.M. Boillot Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 2017. On Sunday I took a stroll through the vineyards of Santenay to better understand the lay of the land and the climats that would serve as my work sites for the next week or two, stopping by the beautifully restored ‘Moulin Serine’ in its northern limits before traipsing through the quietly magisterial village of Chassagne-Montrachet. That night I’d meet the rest of ‘les vendangeurs’, most of whom had travelled from Lille in northern France supplemented by a few locals and a couple of Polish girls completing their third harvest chez Girardin. The mood was high-spirited, but before long I retired to my ‘chambre’ anticipating an early start in the morning and the hard graft ahead.

Harvest – Day 1

We rose in the darkness of the early morning, ate a hearty breakfast, and made for the vineyards on the hillsides high above the village. We’d first tackle the lower portions of ‘Bievaux’ and ‘Sous La Roche’, well-exposed village sites on steep slopes that terminate with exposed limestone cliffs and patches of woodland at their crest. Basked in the early morning sunshine, the mood was jovial as we divvied out buckets and secateurs – items that became extensions of one’s body for the duration of the harvest. As I knelt to make the first cut, a wave of self-realisation overcame me – I was now engaging in an act that until this point had been an abstract manifestation only hinted at in textbooks; moreover, I was popping my viticultural cherry in Burgundy: The Champions League-level playing field as far as this trade is concerned. My existentialism was soon grounded by a more prosaic concern, as pickers on either side of me raced along in their rows, snipping furiously and rapidly filling their buckets. No time for romanticism! I bent down and tussled with the tightly spaced vines, in which canes and leaves seemed to be interwoven in a complex puzzle that had to be grappled with before access to the prized fruit was granted. As I did this my hands scratched and scrabbed, and I recoiled and cursed as I clumsily aimed my first secateur cut too far beyond the stem and nipped an exposed finger on the opposing hand, drawing blood in a frustrated exhale. Humbled, I gritted my teeth and ploughed on, not wishing to fall at the first hurdle and sheared desperately to catch up with my fellow vendangeurs.

After a break for lunch and some and a glass or two of invigorating Aligoté, we picked in the Premiers Crus vineyards of Santenay ‘Beaurepaire’ and Chassagne-Montrachet ‘Morgeot’, in which quality was mixed. In some portions, the crop appeared good - albeit with compact bunches and small berries - while in others the effects of a poor fruit set (Coulure) and mildew were evident, especially for Chardonnay in the upper section of ‘Beaurepaire’, in which inflorescences failed to produce berries and when they did, they were either scorched, shrivelled, or coated in a musty residue. Nevertheless, we persisted, until I then accompanied Jacques to the red winery to receive the Pinot Noir crop (n.b., the Domaine owns two wineries – one in Santenay-le-Haut where the red wines are processed, historically owned by the family, and one in Santenay ville which is attached to Justin’s house and was formerly owned by his uncle, Vincent Girardin, in which the white wines are made). Here I was rewarded with an insight into the remarkably simple final step before the fruit begins its transformation to wine: the grapes are received onto a vibrating belt from a trailer, they are sorted by hand (‘triage’) to remove any MOG (matter other than grapes), before being whisked up a ladder and into a de-stemmer which swiftly removes the stems, spitting them out onto the winery floor, and hoists the liberated, whole berries directly into the open-top, stainless steel fermentation vessel. Then nature is left to take its course – indigenous yeasts will do the rest of the work, commencing in the coming days. A deceivingly simple process to produce an exceedingly complex product! Later, I visited the white winery where the Chardonnay grapes were received in much the same way as the Pinot Noir, except that they were transferred whole cluster (i.e., the stems weren’t removed), into a state of the art pneumatic press, where over a number of hours they’d be gently squeezed to release their golden, vibrant juices which would then be pumped directly into an open-top, stainless steel tank, awaiting nature’s miraculous proclivities. With the evening approaching, we called it a day and toasted with some Belgian beers before sitting down to a hearty Burgundian supper.

Harvest – Day 2

Day 2 was spent solely in the vineyards and in parcels entirely composed of Chardonnay – a rarity, given that Santenay is a predominantly red wine village. The first plot, the ‘Bievaux-le-Haut’, revealed the capriciousness of the season in its most glaring light. This high site – one that in good seasons would guarantee finesse and excellent acidity in an otherwise warm year – was ravaged by mildew, both Downy and Powdery, and it was here that the reality of this way of life was made most clear to me. As we collected the less-than-ideal quality fruit into the trailers, I observed the severe look on Justin’s face, an acknowledgement that no matter how much investment and effort they’d made during the season up to this point, Mother Nature had decided not to play ball. Justin requested that I hop in the trailer to perform an in-site triage, a desperate attempt to rescue what little crop could be salvaged from this devastating situation. He remarked that this plot was not up to the quality that he’d be happy bottling under his name and would likely have to resort to selling the juice to négociants: a lifeline for growers desperate to cover at least some of their costs and an outlet for the crop such that it is not wasted, as these large outfits have the capacity to clean up sub-par juice and market it under lesser, regional bottlings within their wider portfolio. The afternoon was a more positive affair, as we returned to ‘Sous La Roche’ and harvested a bountiful Chardonnay crop of exquisite, clean, green-golden grapes. The duality of the season was stark and plain to see. 

Harvest – Day 3

The morning of Day 3 was spent tackling a site that I had eagerly anticipated – the terraces of ‘Bievaux’, which Justin bottles under his flagship white Santenay bottling, ‘Les Terrasses de Bievaux’. This is one of my favourite, good-value white Burgundies which year on year exhibits a classy restraint, mineral tension, and lifted cedary, almost bracken-scented herbal character.  It’s often remarked that beautiful wines hail from beautiful places, and this is certainly that – a series of six, stony terraces with thin soils and exposed limestone marls; surrounded by forest and perfectly exposed to the southeast, overlooking the village of Santenay and far into the valley and plains below towards the Chalonnaise and beyond. The quality was generally fine here, which I was relieved about as I had visions of stocking up on this wine upon release and regaling overblown tales of my labour to those that I would insist share a bottle with me over the coming years. Nevertheless, some triage was required and for the latter half of the morning, I resumed my residency in the trailer. We descended into the village for the afternoon picking some Bourgogne (‘Saint-Martin’ and ‘Peuraine’, both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), Village (‘Le Haut Village’, Chardonnay), and Premier Cru (‘La Maladière’) plots, the latter of which produced a small but stunning crop of intensely perfumed Pinot Noir. Later in the red winery, Blandine showed me how to take density readings from the vat, which showed ‘La Maladière 1er Cru’ coming in at a respectable 13% potential alcohol.

Harvest – Day 4

On Day 4, we departed extra early from the domaine to make the half-hour drive to Savigny-lès-Beaune, where the first port of call was the Premier Cru vineyard of ‘Les Peuillets’. This is another site that I have a particular fondness for, with its resulting wines consistently exhibiting an airy, rosy profile to their aromatics alongside a sumptuous, crunchy red fruit and tilled soil character. Savigny, which lies just north of the city of Beaune and acts as an extension of its vineyards, is host to a complex array of terroirs ranging from the typical clay-limestone of the Côte to more ferruginous soils as well as patches of sand and gravel. ‘Les Peuillets’ contains a combination of brown limestone and gravel, the latter perhaps responsible for its heightened floral aromas, and rises a gentle slope from the road. The crop here was up to the mark, similar in quality to ‘La Maladière’ the day before, and this run of good quality continued as we ventured south to the village of Pommard, where the climats of ‘Les Cras’ and ‘Les Vignots’ were picked in the late morning and afternoon and held up on the promises hinted by the refractometer samples the week previous with bounteous crops of large, deep-coloured bunches. That evening, over a feast of ‘sanglier’ (wild boar – a daily feature of the Girardin table in some shape or form, it being a vineyard pest in this area and Jacques being a skilled hunter) Justin shared a bottle of Domaine Boris Champy Hautes Côtes de Beaune Rouge ‘Altitude 399’ 2019, a revered winemaker with prestigious posts both in Burgundy and California previously who has now taken up residency in the ‘Hautes Côtes’, once a backwater but now an exciting prospect for racy, elegant wines and open-minded viticulture and winemaking, especially in the face of a changing climate. I got the impression that Justin took inspiration from this forward-looking, pioneering element of the Burgundian scene, but sensed an acknowledgement that he must balance this with respect to the traditions of the many generations of his family that came before him. The desire to push the envelope without tearing the paper, so to speak, and a responsibility perhaps not always recognised by outsiders. 

Harvest – Day 5

Day 5 began in the aptly named Premier Cru vineyard of ‘Beauregard’, translating roughly to ‘beautiful view’. This was the setting of possibly the most picturesque sunrise of the whole trip, with the silhouette of the Moulin Sorine at the foot of the slope adding a frisson of French pastoral bliss to the scene. The Pinot crop here was of a similarly admirable quality to the other red Premiers Crus, and following some reception and sorting work in the red winery with Jacques I spent the remainder of the day in the white winery with Blandine, where I got to peak behind the curtain of the covert world of the buying and selling of juice and exchange between domaines through the medium of the courtier. Courtiers are brokers, and they have their ear to the ground and know exactly who is selling what and who is likely to buy it from them, and all trades and exchanges must go through and be documented by them. As Justin owns a lot of hectares in Santenay, he sells his surplus in exchange for climats that he does not yet own himself personally; in today’s case the Santenay ‘Sous La Roche’ in exchange for Puligny-Montrachet ‘Les Chalumeaux 1er Cru’. A practice that is carried out by virtually all domaines in Burgundy to a greater-or-lesser extent, although not all would admit to it. Ultimately, it is a reality of the business of wine and allows a domaine to diversify and expand its portfolio, offering clients house interpretations of in-demand appellations beyond that which the domaine solely farms itself. If studying the Master of Wine Programme has taught me anything, it’s that every decision in the world of wine – be it a viticultural, vinicultural, processing and handling, logistical, or marketing and business decision, is ultimately fuelled by an economic imperative. The domaines of Burgundy cannot continue to make the transcendental cuvées so venerated and aggrandised by those that have little or no connection to how they’re made without a complicit acceptance that without economic sustainability these elixirs would not exist. With that in mind, this insight did little to dull for me the romance of Burgundy but did more to humanise the hands that craft it. 

Snapped back down to earth, I gained a personal crash course in ‘humanising’ Burgundy through the pumping of the purchased juice from tank into barrel, before hopping inside the large vat that previously housed the ‘Sous La Roche’ juice and hosing and scrubbing it down intensively to remove the leftover lees and stubborn tartaric crystals. Cleanliness, I would come to learn, is utterly paramount in Justin’s wineries – especially pertinent when you’re making wines with indigenous yeasts and limited sulfite additions. To end the day and perhaps to reward my fastidious cleaning, Blandine drove us to the lookout point of ‘Les Troix Croix’ on the Mont de Sène, rising 500m above the villages of Santenay and the triumvirate that makeup Maranges, casting a commanding 360-degree view with Mont Blanc just visible in the far eastern distance. On the descent we discovered a striking Mante religieuse (praying mantis) – a good omen for the remainder of the harvest, I hoped!

Harvest – Days 6 & 7

By the weekend we had achieved a steady rhythm and adopted a modest sense of urgency as less favourable weather was forecast for Sunday and into the next week. On Saturday we picked a walled plot of Pinot Noir within the village of Santenay, ‘Clos Genet’, before making our way to the grander walled vineyard of ‘Clos Rousseau 1er Cru’ on the southern outskirts of the village, the source of one of Justin’s most recognised wines and one that gives an often fuller, darker fruited, and sturdier expression of red Burgundy that many JN customers have found favour in. Quality here was decent and yields looked to be slightly more promising than the other Premiers Crus sites of ‘Beauregard’ and ‘La Maladière’, and by Sunday morning we were picking in the village of Maranges. The climat here is called ‘Aubues’, made up of handsome old vines of over 50 years on rich, calcareous clay soils interspersed with gravels and sands, the result of which culminates in his delicious ‘Maranges Vieilles Vignes’ bottling - a new addition to the JN portfolio and a wine that shows the potential in this oft-overlooked terminus of the Côte. However, the sky was noticeably darker this morning and the temperatures cooler, with ominous-looking clouds and a misty hue over the vineyards promising oncoming rain. By midday, it had begun, and as we donned our waterproofs Valérie announced to an elated throng of ‘vendangeurs’ that we’d be stopping for the day and picking up again tomorrow. This was music to our ears, as weariness had well and truly set in amongst the team after a solid week of backbreaking work. I had no time to soothe my aches and pains, however, and spent the afternoon in the white winery again with Blandine, learning how to inoculate some bought-in juice with yeast (a practice Justin does not observe on his own wines, opting instead to let nature take its course with wild fermentations, but does so in poorer years on sites where he hasn’t overseen the farming) before I got a lesson in barrel rolling from Justin – let’s just say I’ll need some more practice before I enrol in the Bravìo delle Botti…

Harvest – Day 8

On Monday, we resumed picking in the Bourgogne plot of ‘Peuraine’, and I spent the afternoon with Blandine doing more work in the winery, this time racking juice from tank to barrel which proceeded with only minor spillages. I was then introduced to the fascinating and fastidious world of Burgundian barrel aligning – something I had never considered before having visited dozens of caves and barrel halls in the past, and despite my bemusement, was treated with utmost seriousness and severity. Not content with the contents of the barrels being of the uppermost echelon, the alignment and the facing of the barrels in the cellar were held in almost as high a regard, with eyesight alone being insufficient in soothing the perfectionist tendencies of Justin and especially Jacques (I’m told), with spirit levels, string, and even chisels being used to ensure that the barrel faces are perfectly flush to within laser point proficiency! I joked with Justin that this behaviour reminded me of my dearly departed grandmother back home, who’d have her house and garden always sitting like a show home - lest one be spoken ill of in the village… thirteen generations' worth of good Girardin reputation could be left in tatters!

That evening we enjoyed a delicious bottle of white Burgundy from a recent, similarly tricky vintage - Domaine Bruno Clair Marsannay Source des Roches Blanc 2021 – which provided hope that this year’s harvest, due to conclude tomorrow, could turn out to be something beautiful in bottle despite the tribulations that preceded it. In the morning, we arose in good spirits knowing that the last two plots – the remainder of ‘Peuraine’ and Savigny-lès-Beaune ‘Les Gollardes’ - would signal the end of ‘Vendanges 2024’ and the beginning of preparations for ‘La Paulée’, the famous end of harvest party that our collective attention had gravitated to! At midday, the last ‘panier’ full of grapes was deposited into the trailer and the rabble of joyous ‘vendangeurs’ piled into the vans which beeped and hollered the whole way home to chez Girardin. That evening, we enjoyed a veritable feast with all manner of local bread, cheeses, charcuteries, and sweet treats, with a main of steak frites and full glasses of wines from the Domaine’s cellars satisfying all and sundry. We toasted speeches from Justin with flutes of crémant and followed Jacques into the traditional songs of ‘La Paulée’, clapping and stamping and cheering late into the evening. Bound by the toil of the week and more than a glass or two of delicious Bourgogne, I surrendered to a dreamy languor and felt more than ever that I was a member of this motley, ‘vendangeur’ family and that we’d in some small way persist in the memory of this great wine region for many vintages to come, forever woven into the fabric of its great cultural tapestry.

Post-harvest reflections

The next day, I was rewarded with a long lie-in (which was probably for everyone’s benefit) before composing myself and spending the afternoon monitoring fermentations in the red winery, taking temperature and density samples from atop the large, open vats. The smell was sweet and heady which indicated that this miraculous process was indeed underway. I pumped over each tank with Justin (the act of ‘remontage’ – something Justin solely practices instead of ‘pigéage’, or punching down) to help not only wet the cap but to provide the yeast with oxygen at the beginning of fermentation, release carbon dioxide, distribute the temperature more evenly within the vat, and begin the process of colour, flavour, and aroma extraction from the delicate skins of the Pinot Noir grapes. On Thursday I was rewarded with a day off, and spent it cycling around the Côte de Beaune, pilgrimaging to the region’s most revered vineyard – ‘Le Montrachet’ – before making a welcome return to the beautiful city of Beaune which delighted even amidst the pouring rain. On returning to Santenay, I toasted the week with a bottle from the local caveau and bade farewell to some fellow vendangeurs, enjoying a suitably haute cuisine supper of cheeseburgers and fries with those that remained before it was my turn to say adieu in the morning.  

The morning came when – after two weeks of calling Santenay my home – I had to return to Ireland. A bittersweet moment, and while my body welcomed the return to home comforts and the break from hard, physical labour, my soul mourned the loss of waking up in the heart of Burgundy’s great vineyards each day and the feeling of being immersed and at one with this great culture that has held an allure for so many the world over. With that, I thanked Justin and his family for their sincere hospitality and kindness, and for their patience in devoting time and effort to grant me experiences and offer insights that no book, website, or lecture could sufficiently convey. I leave Burgundy with a much greater appreciation of the resilient people who farm this special region, especially those like Justin who refuse to rest on their laurels and continue to strive for greater quality and a more unfettered expression of place in their wines, even in the face of a changing climate and increasingly uncertain global market. I’ll also appreciate every droplet in every bottle of good Burgundy I drink, knowing first-hand the gruelling effort and physical strain that every vendangeur has gone through to make those 750mls a reality. Regarding vintage 2024? While it’s too early to tell, I predict white wines with brisk acidities and more mineral profiles in 2024 than the ‘solar’ expressions of 2023 and 2022 and red wines that show good fruit intensity (thanks to small berries) with moderate alcohol levels and red-fruited, floral, fleshy profiles. I look forward to sampling the fruits of our collective labours as they begin to see bottle next year - watch this space!

 

Discover more about Domaine Justin Girardin in our JN 'Producer Profiles'. To browse the wines, follow the link to the products here.