Domaine Etienne Sauzet

The Etienne Sauzet estate is located in the town of Puligny-Montrachet, in Côte de Beaune. In 2014, a few plots in Hautes Côte de Beaune were added to the historic estate to increase their production. At present, the estate covers 15 hectares spread across Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and Cormot-le-Grand (where the Hautes Côtes de Beaune appellation is produced).

The estate is run biodynamically since 2009 and obtained the biodynamic certification in 2013. Their aim is to promote the exceptional terroirs that give their Chardonnay and Puligny wines their character and expression. Etienne Sauzet’s wines are elegant, delicate, pure and precise. They are well-balanced and offer an authentic taste of their terroir.

The grapes are systematically sorted before pressing. The juice is put into casks the day after the harvest and the fermentation process starts. The wines are aged for 18 months, including 12 months in casks and 6 months on fine lees in stainless steel vats.

The proportion of new barrels never exceeds 25%.
The wines are bottled by gravity at the estate after clarification and filtration when necessary.

Emilie and Benoit have managed the estate together for more than 10 years, surrounded by two formidable cellar and vineyard teams.

Etienne Sauzet was the great-grandfather of Emilie Boudot. He was not a born winemaker, but a seller of delicatessen products. However, he inherited a few hectares of vines in the 1960s and he started producing wine. Later on, he bought other plots and built the 12-hectare estate under his name that the family owns at present.

Etienne Sauzet didn’t have any sons, and his daughter never worked in the estate. So in 1975, his granddaughter, Jeanine, took over the estate with her husband, Gérard Boudot.

After inheriting the estate and losing some vineyards, Jeanine and Gérard developed the trading activity of the company. This was quite revolutionary at the time and allowed them to buy grapes to compensate for the plots they had lost.

During 30 years, the couple would work tirelessly to give the estate its letters of nobility and build its reputation.

In the 2000s, after completing her oenology studies, their daughters Emilie took the reins of the estate with her husband Benoit Riffault, a winemaker from Sancerrois.
They continue to work on a daily basis to pursue the family adventure with a fine attention to detail and a continuing quest for the identity of their terroirs.