Having undergone something of a wobble in the 1980s, thanks to young vines and a lack of investment, this domaine is now firmly re-established at the top of the Morey tree. Owned by a wealthy German businessman, who bought the property in 1996, and run by the gregarious Thierry Brouin, the domaine consists largely of seven hectares of the Grand Cru, Clos des Lambrays, which nestles between the likes of Clos St Denis and Clos de Tart. Being such a large vineyard can bring either positive or negative elements in to the equation, depending upon the approach of the winemaker. With as much as 7 hectares in one plot there will be variation in exposition, variation in vine age and variation in soil. Variation can be good as it can add complexity but it needs to be harnessed and channelled. Thankfully, Thierry is rather good at this and is not afraid to declassify a large proportion of the crop in order to maintain a high standard in the Grand Cru. Inevitably, such declassification also means high quality juice filtering down to the 1er Cru, to be blended with juice from the two small individual plots of 1ers Crus in the domaine. As it has juice from more than one vineyard Thierry has come up with a fictional lieu dit for the wine, Les Loups.
In style the wines are very classical with a hint of femininity, certainly not at all brutish. In short, you can’t fail to love them. Thierry also males a tiny amount of 1er Cru Puligny-Montrachet from vineyards bought in the mid-nineties. He has Folatieres but more interestingly he has Clos du Caillerets, which is a superbly located vineyard that makes truly lovely wine.