Domaine Méo-Camuzet
About Domaine Méo-Camuzet
Domaine Méo-Camuzet is one of Burgundy’s big names. Until 1988 most of the holdings were leased out. Now Jean-Nicolas Méo and Christian Faurois are making some of Cote d’Or’s best wine. Using organic farming on their great plots; they boast four Grand Cru and ten Premier Cru sites in Nuits St George and Vosne-Romanée.
Today, the fortunes of this magical Domaine and its standing as a winemaking entity could not be further removed from this period which, quite shockingly, actually saw a sizable share of its fruit sold to négociants! The proud master of over 2.5 hectares of Grands Crus and 8 of 1er, some of the most hallowed terroir in Nuits-St-Georges and Vosne-Romanée is owned and its fruit vinified by Méo-Camuzet.
Prior to the arrival of current stewards Jean-Nicholas Méo and Christian Faurois, two of the most monumental Burgundian personalities were fundamental in the history of Méo-Camuzet. The first being its namesake Etienne Camuzet, an important political figure in the early 20th century who, aside from purchasing the bulk of what we know as Domaine Méo-Camuzet holdings today including Château de Clos de Vougeot (later gifted to the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin), made numerous important decisions throughout the region with regards to what parcels could be included in Grand Cru classification.
The second, and quite possibly the single greatest Burgundian winemaker of the 20th century, was Henri Jayer. Specifically invited by the owners of Domaine Méo-Camuzet to tend to their vines since the 1940s due to his already formidable reputation, the masterful vigneron remained a sharecropper of the Domaine’s holdings until 1988 when it moved to vinify its plots itself. Following the transformation of Domaine Méo-Camuzet into an almighty winemaking presence in its own right, Jayer remained a consultant and was utterly instrumental in its ascension to the very pinnacle of Burgundian fine wine.
