Château de Charodon

Château de Charodon is the project of Louis Vallet, together with his brother Thibault and father Bernard. The family originally hails from Gevrey-Chambertin, where Bernard remains co-owner of the renowned Domaine Pierre Bourée. Louis chose his own path. For years he travelled the world as a "flying winemaker", with one harvest in Bourgogne and one in the southern hemisphere, learning the craft with Pascal Marchand among others. The estate works from a historic château near Beaune and produces wines with a pure, juicy mid-palate and a recognisable spiciness, without excessive oak. Worth knowing: Charodon's first vintage, in 2010, ran to a modest 1,200 bottles. That has since grown to more than 42,000 bottles a year, an increase of more than thirtyfold in little over a decade.