ProducerDomaine Laurent Cognard

The domaine is located in the village of Buxy, the southern gateway to the Côte Chalonnaise. Though the Cognard family traces its roots to the Mâconnais, Laurent was born in Buxy and always aspired to establish his own winery in the appellation. He bought his first vines in 1997, but it wasn’t until 2006 he was able to commit to his domaine full time. Today, he manages 18 hectares of vines spread over Loché, Montagny and Mercurey with 6,4 hectares in Montagny 1er Cru. His winemaking philosophy centres on freshness and balance which is emphasised by the non-traditional choice of 500L barrels that preserves the wines' minerality and expression of terroir.

RegionBurgundy, France

Burgundy has always fascinated and frustrated in equal measure. For every eulogising, life-changing proclamation from someone realising wine nirvana, there is some poor soul somewhere bashing their head in perplexity. At its best, Burgundy can provide the ultimate- the transcendental, mystifying, unexplainable pleasure that only truly great wine can bring. But at its worst, it can be an expensive mistake, bring disillusion and even provoke anger.

For sure, Burgundy is not the region of choice for the unadventurous or risk averse! How then to navigate the minefield? Our advice has always...