Domaine Philippe Germain: Burgundy Wines from the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune

The Story

Philippe Germain took over the family estate in 1995, inheriting 9 hectares of vines in Nantoux, a quiet village in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune tucked between Pommard and Meursault. Over the following years he expanded steadily, acquiring new parcels and growing the domaine to 13 hectares while working to build the estate's reputation beyond the region.

In 2008, his nephew Maxime Champaud joined him, drawn by the same passion for viticulture. Since then, Maxime has brought a further 6 hectares into the fold, bringing the total to 22 hectares and cementing the domaine as a genuine family project across two generations.

Today the domaine produces around 120,000 bottles a year across a broad range of Burgundy appellations, from village wines to premiers crus.

In the Vineyard

Nantoux sits at mid-altitude in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, a landscape of forest, farmland and vines just a few kilometres west of Beaune and Pommard. The domaine's 22 hectares extend from this elevated base into some of the Côte de Beaune's most prestigious appellations, with parcels in Meursault, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Monthélie and Auxey-Duresses.

Soils across the domaine's plots are predominantly clay-limestone, with individual lieu-dits including En Bignon and Sous le Bois Guillemain in Nantoux, La Chanière and En Vignots in Pommard, and Les Grandes Vignes in Auxey-Duresses. Several plots carry old vines, with plantings dating back to 1962.

Farming is done without herbicides, pesticides or insecticides. The domaine holds both Terra Vitis Responsable and HVE level 3 certification, the highest tier of France's environmental quality standard for agriculture.

In the Cellar

Harvesting is done by hand across all plots, with sorting carried out in the vineyard by the pickers. White wines are whole-bunch pressed after a light crush, settled overnight in stainless steel, then racked by gravity into oak barrels for 12 months of ageing with 20% new oak. The approach preserves the freshness of the higher-altitude Hautes-Côtes fruit while allowing the richer plots to develop weight and texture.

For the reds, vinification begins with a cold pre-fermentation maceration of four to five days, followed by alcoholic fermentation at controlled temperature with daily pigeage and pumping over. Ageing runs from 12 to 14 months in French oak barrels, again with 20% new oak. All wines are bottled on the estate.

The whites from Nantoux show a mineral, fruit-driven character in youth, developing more weight and a buttery richness with a few years in bottle. The reds range from the silky, fine-grained Auxey-Duresses to the more structured, earthy Pommard, which rewards patience and benefits from at least three to four years of cellaring.