Jean Grivot

About Domaine Jean Grivot

Domaine Jean Grivot is today one of Burgundy's true icons, under the talented stewardship of the fifth generation of Grivots, this is a Domaine that shows its full pedigree vintage after vintage. Domaine Jean Grivot is one of the very first Burgundian Domaines to bottle and sell wine under their own name in the 1930s, the Grivot family’s roots run almost as deep as their vines’ in the region.

Etienne and his wife Marielle took over from his late father, the eponymous Jean, in the early 1980s. The style of the wine under Jean was perfectly refined and elegant, but somewhat lacking in depth and richness, especially in lesser vintages. The terrible vintage of 1994 was something of a blessing in disguise for the estate – it allowed Etienne to find his voice and, through necessity as much as anything, develop a bolder and more generous style of wine with real profundity.

The Vineyards and the Wines

Well into his stride of crafting a range of sensational wines, the 15 hectare Domaine is consistently one of the most sought after and critically acclaimed names in Burgundy. The Grivot vines are on average a considerable 50 years old, spread across some of the finest vineyards in Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St-Georges. Aside from completely destemming the grapes, Etienne favours a very low intervention style of winemaking, claiming to favour the “spiritual” (natural fermentation) to the “physical” (punching down etc.).

Somewhat averse to the gushing praise heaped upon him, Etienne says of his success: “There’s no recipe; it’s very personal. As a result it’s very frustrating as one’s never content”.