Domaine Henri & Gilles Buisson - Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru 'Les Ecusseaux' 2021

Wine Region: Burgundy - France

Grape: 100% Pinot Noir

Tasting notes:  It was in 1924 that the village of Auxey attached to its name that of its best climat "Les Duresses" thus becoming Auxey-Duresses. This village admits prestigious neighbors such as Pommard and Volnay and while the latter produce exclusively reds, the commune of Auxey-Duresses produces both reds on the Bourdon mountain, in the extension of Volnay, and whites on the very fine soils of Montmélian. On the south-facing slopes formed by clay-limestone soil, the 1er cru "Les Ecusseaux" produces a supple and fleshy wine. Characterized by aromas of raspberry, blackcurrant and black cherry, its structure is velvety and its finish spicy.

About the Winery

The Buisson family name is etched deep into the history of Saint-Romain, the high elevation appellation in its own little Burgundy nook, to the west of Meursault and north of Auxey-Duresses. The Buissons reach back to the 12th century but they boast a semi-official start date of 1758.

Their ‘modern’ history reflects that of Saint-Romain itself, when in 1947 the climat was granted AOC status, and the pioneering Henri Buisson moved from farming to estate-bottling the first ever Saint-Romain AOC wines. Henri’s son Gilles took over in the 1980s, and he in turn passed the torch to brothers Franck and Frederick, who are the eighth generation of family vignerons.

Eleven of the twenty-odd hectares of estate-owned vines are in Saint-Romain, across eight different sites, headlined by the signature plots of Sous La Velle for Chardonnay and Sous Roche for Pinot Noir. The remaining holdings are spread across Cote de Beaune, Volnay, Pommard, Meursault and three plots on the hill of Corton.

They were very early exponents of organic and biodynamic vineyard practice, and are fully certified as organic (AB, or Association Biologique via Ecocert in 2006) and biodynamic (2019 through Biodyvin).

Since 2017 they have also expanded their range through judicious ’exchanges of fruit’ with a number of certified organic producers in Chassagne, Santenay and Macon with more to come. These wines are labelled as Maison Buisson rather than Domaine Buisson.