Domaine d’edouard
Edouard Lepesme
Vaux-auxerre
Côtes d’auxerre - burgundy
story…
Edouard spent several years working in the wine industry as a marketing and commercial specialist which led to some amazing relationships and contacts. In 2011 he decided he wanted to get more hands on and start making wine, so digging into his contact list he was able to piece together some ample experience opportunities throughout Burgundy as well as some work in New Zealand. Most notably he spent time working in organic viticulture and more natural winemaking practices alongside Alice & Olivier de Moor and Domaine Pattes Loup in Chablis, and Domaine Naudin-Ferrand in Côtes de Nuits. Then in 2014 opportunity came calling when the Dessus Bon Boire estate in Vaux-Auxerre came up for sale, an organically farmed estate that Edouard had worked with in his past career. Edouard jumped at this and by September of that year he was in the cellar working with the fruit form his first harvest.
Edouard’s estate has plantings that date back to the 1960’s, when Antoine Donat decided to re-plant the vineyards located on his land on the slopes of Vaux-Auxerre. At this same time Antoine created his estate, Dessus Bon Boire, and thus reviving wine production in this long overlooked village. In the 80’s Antoine handed the reins to his son, André, who expanded the vineyard plantings. Then in the 90’s he began the conversion to organic viticulture, a pioneer in the region at this time. In the early 2000’s he obtained organic certification for all of his vineyards.
farming & Philosophy…
Edouard is a firm believer in organic viticulture, it’s one of the main reasons he could not pass up what is now his estate when it came up for sale in 2014. To be able to take over an existing estate that already had organic viticulture firmly established was a dream come true. Along with feeling that organics is better for his vineyard and fruit; he also believes it to be the right way to farm for the safety and health of his employees and himself. Harvests are all carried out by hand to ensure only the best quality fruit is brought into the winery.
In the cellar he continues this organic mentality when crafting his wines. All fermentations take place with native/ambient yeasts in either stainless vat, neutral barrel, or a combination of both depending on the wine. His white wines are fermented in vat and then aged in barrel, say for the Aligoté which is done only in vat and stainless tank. All of the white wines stay on the lees during elevage. His red wines are also fermented in a mix of vats and barrel, but all of the reds are finished in barrel for varying times depending on the cuvée. He employs whole cluster ferments on nearly all his red wines, typically between 20-40% whole cluster inclusion. All of the wines that go into barrel are aged in a mix of 228L, 350L, & 600L neutral oak barrels. Sulphur is kept to minimum in the cellar and only employed when needed.
Vineyards…
The estate consists of 14 hectares of vineyards planted on the two slopes of the village. The plot on the north slope, that faces due south, is planted on Jurassic and Cretaceous soils with higher amount of clay than is typical in the area. The plots on the southern slope, that faces due east, is more limestone heavy with exclusively Jurassic soils. These are highly similar soils to Auxerre’s more famous neighbor, Chablis. Most of his vineyards are planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay but he also has smaller holdings of Aligoté, Gamay, and César, a common variety of the Auxerre region.
