bruno dangin
Bruno & Matthieu Dangin
molesme
Côte d’or - burgundy
Story…
A truly singular journey, the founding of the Bruno Dangin estate is historically rooted in Champagne but finds its home in the Côte d’Or. Bruno’s grandfather, Joseph Dangin, cultivated vineyards in Celles-sur-Ource in the Aube region of Champagne at the turn of the Century. These were family holdings that had been passed down to him. Joseph’s son, Paul, succeeds him and continues the family tradition of cultivating vines in Champagne. Eventually he begins selling his grapes to several Champagne houses before finally launching into his own production in 1947 under the Paul Dangin et fils Champagne label.
In 1976 Bruno Dangin, Paul’s son, returns to the family estate after finishing his studies in Avize and Beaune. He spends the next 35 years working his family's land with his brothers. During this time he becomes increasingly interested in organic viticulture and the idea of farming without chemicals. Due to the size of the family holdings, around 50 ha, he decides to not attempt to convert them and instead begins looking for a new site to call his own where he can follow this vision. It is in Molesme, just 3 kilometers south of the Aube where his family’s estate exists to this day, that he finds what he is looking for and in 2011 he establishes Domaine Bruno Dangin.
Today Bruno is also joined by his son Matthieu who shares in his father’s passion for organic viticulture and the production of champagne method sparkling wines of the highest quality. They farm just shy of 5 ha of vines, all certified organic since 2014, in an area that prior to the 1919 AOC act was actually a fruit source for Champagne wines. In fact their vineyard soil makeup is far more akin to the soils of the Côte des Bars region than it is to the Côte d’Or.
Farming & Philosophy…
The estate has been Agriculture Biologique certified by Ecocert since 2014, however the Dangin’s vineyard practices go bit further than just simple organics. Their practices are not so regimented as say a Biodynamically run estate much of their principles are similar. Bruno believes in leaving behind a clean and uncompromising heritage for his extensive family, 5 children and 16 grandchildren. All work in the vineyards takes in account the effect it will have on the surrounding environment, wanting to preserve the natural biodiversity of plants & animals in the vineyards and surrounding lands.
In the cellar their practices are quite traditional, and in line with methode Champenoise sparkling wine production. Their NV cuvée’s are done entirely in tank and bottle, where as their more prestigious and vintage dated cuvées often see oak aging or fermentations prior to bottle conditioning. They have also begun to experiment with clay amphora jars, but only currently used for the production of a still Bourgogne Rouge. SO2 additions are always below 60 mg/l, and in many cases they are far less including several cuvée’s that are bottled without any added sulphites.
vineyards…
Vineyards are located in the abbey of Molesme just south of the Aube in Champagne. This tiny area is part of the larger, but still quite small, area known as The Châtillonnais that surrounds the town of Châtillon-sur-Seine. Although not technically its own AOC it is widely referenced as its own entity and is renowned as one of the best areas for the production of Crémant de Bourgogne. The soils here are primarily hard, deep limestone along with varying degrees of clay topsoils.
Dangin’s holdings are made up of nearly all Pinot Noir with smaller amounts of Chardonnay along with a tiny amount of Aligoté. They purchase just a small amount of fruit, mostly Chardonnay, to be used in a couple of their cuvées.
