JEAN-MARC VINCENT

Jean-Marc Vincent

The village of Santenay is home of one of Burgundy’s most exciting small Domaine, managed by Jean Marc Vincent and his wife Anne Marie. Created in 1997, Domaine Jean Marc Vincent started with vineyards inherited from Jean Marc’s grandfather. Nowadays the estate counts a bit more than 5 hectares located between Santenay, Auxey-Duresse and Puligny-Montrachet.

What really matter for Jean-Marc Vincent is making wine in the respect of his grandfather traditions who had a true influence on him. Since 2003, advised by his father, he has been cultivating the vineyard close to organic farming. Around the same time, he stopped heavy machine in the vineyard, to replace them by caterpillar-tracked engines.

“I realized I’d been trimming my canopies too low. Vines with higher canopies produce smaller, more open grape clusters, and the soils stay cooler thanks to the shade, retaining more water in dry vintages.” Jean Marc Vincent

Jean-Marc belongs to an informal group of likeminded vignerons including Olivier Lamy, Thomas Bouley, Bruno Lorenzon, Charles Lachaux, Nicolas Rossignol, who often taste together and share constructive criticism. After visiting Bruno Lorenzon in Mercurey, Jean Marc decided to “tress” his vines instead of hedging them. Around the same time, inspired by Olivier Lamy, Jean-Marc Vincent planted is vineyard in a very high density, to make 14 to 17,000 vines per hectares. As a result, it optimizes the surfaces and helps protecting grapes from the sun and keeping minerality, which seems to deliver wines of exceptional intensity. One of the goals of high density is to improve the quality of young vines. After just a few years, young vineyards have the quality of very old ones. To aerate the vines, shoots are separated one by one, and leaves are removed manually to let the sun reach the grapes.

The harvest is carried out by hand, with several passes through the raw to pick grapes at the perfect maturity. Sorting is made in the vineyard to keep only the best grapes.

During vinification, manual work and respect of traditions are still the main thrust for Jean-Marc Vincent. For red wines, depending on the vintage, a whole-cluster fermentation can be used. Then the elevage lasts 16 to 17 months in 20% new oak, without any racking before bottling. Seeking for dry extracts and lees, Jean Marc prefers long and slow pressing for his white wines. Elevage takes place in 15% new oak up to 18 months. Wines are aged on their lees without sulfur, in a slow, temperature-controlled maceration. According to Jean-Marc, vinification must let the wines develop at a very slow pace.

Jean Marc’s wines excels in both colors and are a terrific source of high-quality Burgundies. Characterized by an intense expression of individual terroir and a solid structure all Jean-Marc Vincent’s wines are a testament to the importance of vigneron talent in a given appellation.

“This small but exceptional five-hectare Santenay domaine is one of the Côte de Beaune's finest and deserves to be much better known.” William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“This small but exceptional five-hectare Santenay domaine is one of the Côte de Beaune's finest and deserves to be much better known.” William Kelley, The Wine Advocate