Burgundy’s dynamic Domaine Génot-Boulanger with owner Guillaume Lavolée – Wednesday 29th April

When merchant Justerini & Brooks began importing the wines of Domaine Génot-Boulanger in 2018, it did so in a state of shock. ‘It’s not every day that we come across a 22ha domaine in Burgundy that we have never encountered before, producing wines of such outstanding quality,’ says the merchant’s senior buyer Julian Campbell.

The domaine was born as the lifelong dream of two Parisian pharmacists, Charles-Henri Génot and his wife Marie Boulanger, brought to life when they moved to Meursault and purchased vineyards in Mercurey in 1974. After further acquisitions across the Côte d’Or and Côte de Nuits, by the time their grandson Francois Delaby inherited the estate in 1998, he had 22 hectares of prime vineyard at his disposal. Ten years later his daughter Aude and son-in-law Guillaume Lavollée took over and are today the fourth generation to lead the estate.

The couple have led a conversion to organic farming, while winemaking follows a non-interventionist approach via indigenous yeasts and gentle extractions including some whole-bunch, and just 20% new oak. Rather like Aude and Guillaume themselves, the wines are precise, composed and elegant.

‘We were taken aback during our initial visit, a tasting which proved startling for its consistent brilliance for both white and red wines,’ recalls Campbell. A year later, tasting the 2018 wines, he went so far as to say he ‘couldn’t think of any other domaine in the Côte that excelled so equally and consistently in both red and white’.

Fitting, then, that we will taste two of the 2018 wines with owner Guillaume Lavollée when he joins us to present the domaine. The main focus will be on the 2023s, a range described by Campbell as ‘a tour de force’ via whites with extract, intensity, structure and length; and reds that are translucent, elegant, refined and pure. Come and taste them yourself, with the man who made them.

The wines we’ll be tasting:
2017 Corton, Les Combes, Grand Cru, Domaine Génot-Boulanger
2018 Beaune, Les Grèves, 1er Cru, Domaine Génot-Boulanger
2018 Pommard Clos Blanc 1er Cru, Domaine Génot-Boulanger
2022 Pommard, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Génot-Boulanger
2023 Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Domaine Génot Boulanger
2023 Mercurey, En Sazenay, 1er Cru, Domaine Génot Boulanger
2023 Puligny Montrachet, Les Nosroyes, Domaine Génot Boulanger
2023 Meursault, Clos du Cromin, Domaine Génot-Boulanger
2023 Meursault, Les Bouchères, 1er Cru, Domaine Génot Boulanger

Wednesday 29th April
St. James’s Room
18:30 – Glass on arrival
19:00 – Masterclass starts
20:30 – Masterclass ends

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