Girardin Vincent

Maison Vincent Girardin, in Search of the Truth of Terroir

Based in Meursault, in the heart of Burgundy, Maison Vincent Girardin strives to capture the grandeur and specificity of its terroirs, offering wines from 11 villages of the Côte de Beaune. Under the guidance of Eric Germain, vinification is approached as naturally as possible, with one constant goal: to reveal the freshness, minerality and complexity that define great Burgundy wines. This philosophy runs through every stage of the work, from pruning to bottling, which is carried out according to the lunar calendar.

Vinifying the White Wines: Freshness and Minerality

For the white wines, Maison Vincent Girardin relies on fully hand-harvesting, with sorting carried out directly on the vine. The grapes are then pressed slowly to preserve the delicacy of the juice, before being placed in French oak barrels, after light settling, using 10 to 15% new wood depending on the appellation. Fermentation takes place through indigenous yeasts, naturally present in the juice. This is followed by long aging on fine lees, from 14 to 20 months depending on the cuvée, allowing the wines to develop their full complexity while retaining the balance between freshness and minerality characteristic of Burgundy's limestone soils.

Meursault 1er Cru "Les Perrières" perfectly illustrates this pursuit of precision: regarded as the greatest terroir in the village of Meursault, it is often reserved in its youth, before opening up over time to become rich, dense, with a beautiful mineral salinity on the finish.

Vinifying the Red Wines: The Finesse of Pinot Noir

For the reds, the house's philosophy is simple: Pinot Noir is a delicate grape variety, and it must never be over-extracted at the risk of losing its natural finesse. After hand-harvesting and careful sorting, the grapes are placed in vats for a gentle fermentation, with light pump-overs that respect the fruit rather than force it. The wine is then aged in oak barrels for about eighteen months, before careful bottling, carried out without aggressive filtration to preserve all of its substance.

Volnay 1er Cru "Les Santenots" is a perfect example, and holds a curiosity well known to Burgundy enthusiasts: its vines, planted on clay-limestone soils, actually grow in the commune of Meursault, renowned for its whites. But since Pinot Noir is not king there, the wine produced takes the name of the neighboring village and becomes, through Burgundian magic, a… Volnay. It carries all the generosity and elegance characteristic of this appellation: red fruit, spicy notes of cinnamon, and a full, fleshy palate.