Domaine de Villaine

It might seem a bit surprising that this tiny estate remains so under the radar unless you've met its owner personally. Aubert de Villaine is the owner and director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and one of the most humble and unassuming people in the wine business. His day job involves running the most famous wine estate on the planet, which he has been doing since the 1960s when he joined the family business. In the 1970s, he and his wife decided to settle not in the prestigious Côte d'Or, but in the significantly less renowned backcountry of the Côte Chalonnaise to the south, in the village of Bouzeron. This is ground zero for great Aligoté, and the wine made here is considered the finest in Burgundy. Aubert's nephew, Pierre de Benoist, has been working here since 2000 and now runs the estate, quietly making some of the best and most sought-after wines in all of Burgundy. Farming at De Villaine is every bit as meticulous as at DRC, with both organic and biodynamic methods being followed. Aligoté comprises the largest part of his holdings, with vines up to 90 years old planted on the best hillsides with the best exposures. This is classic argilo-calcaire (clay-limestone) terroir, poor in nutrients with thin to no topsoil. This produces tiny yields—28 hectoliters per hectare in a typical vintage, nearly half the yield limit for the most prestigious grand cru white Burgundies. Winemaking, as you might expect, is very traditional: hand harvesting, gentle pressing to avoid astringency, vinification in giant foudres, and subsequent aging in the same casks. The only nod to modernity is temperature control during fermentation to preserve freshness.