Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron

Historical

Jean Confuron of Vosne-Romanée (1904-65) married a girl from Premeaux, whither he moved. The domaine continues under the name of his son, Jean- Jacques (1929-83) who married Andrée Noëllat (sister of Odile, who married Alain Hudelot). Jean- Jacques and Andrée’s daughter Sophie married Alain Meunier. Their son Louis, who has married Justine Clerget from Vougeot, is now taking over.

Viticulture & Vinification

Louis Meunier is not intending to change the style – don’t expect any earthquakes, said Louis – but instead some tweaking here and there to fine-tune a few elements. In particular Louis is aiming to vinify with as little sulphur as possible.

The broad lines remain the same, the grapes being destemmed for the most part and vinified with a firm hand, more punching down than pumping over, then aged in a relatively high percentage of new wood, albeit less than in the past. These are robust wines in their youth with considerable ageing potential.

Vineyards

The winemaking style seems to work particularly well with their excellent cuvée of Nuits-St-Georges Les Chaboeufs, made from vines planted in 1957, partly replanted using massal selection in 2011.

There is a significant proportion of old vines of excellent pinot stock across the domaine, which has been farmed organically since 1991. Louis notes that the best vineyards are usually from the Noëllat side of the family (Louis’ grand-father Jean-Jacques Confuron married Andrée Noëllat). This includes the block of Romanée-St-Vivant, believed to have been planted in 1926.

At the moment the sweet spot among the three cuvées of Côte de Nuits Villages is Les Vignottes, given that la Montagne has been recently replanted and the small holding of Aux Leureys, recently taken on, needs revitalising. They also make a little bit of single grape variety vin de France grown in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, from pinot gris, pinot noir and chardonnay.