Claire Naudin

Claire Naudin, Domaine Naudin Ferrand
Burgundy, Magny-lès-Villers

The village of Magny-lès-Villers boasts an exceptional location: it is indeed the only village of the Hautes-Côtes which straddles the boundary between the two appellations of Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune and Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. The domain covers about 22 hectares of vineyard, with some prestigious parcels in: Aloxe, Ladoix, Echezeaux, and Nuit St Georges.

“Many generations of winemakers have built our domain. One after the other, they knew how to work the vine and express the best of the fruit. Each new generation has been a source of renewal and dynamism, of questioning and new projects.”

Claire had often dreamed of making wine, but needed to come to the decision in her own time. After studying geology and agronomy, she travelled and worked in vineyards in both Australia and New Zealand before returning home.

“You need to want to become a winemaker, not have it thrust upon you.”

Claire Naudin officially took the Domaine Naudin Ferrand in 1994, and quickly shaped it to her own personality and style. She believes in sustainable winemaking and refuses standardization, favoring a viticulture and a constant questioning of "chemical" practices. She avoids chemicals in the vineyard, not only because they affect soil quality in the long-term and because she feels they are detrimental to the health of vineyard workers.

She’s argued with appellation standards for years, feeling that some of the rules are detrimental to the quality of wine. Her wines are deeply rooted in Burgundian tradition and they carry all of her sensitivity, and the promise of a better future. As a woman winemaker and passionate mother of three, she wants to perpetuate what she has received.

“My wine will no longer be trapped in a ‘small’ label. The ‘Burgundy white grape’ has been drawn down, overused- and even despised by many colleagues who have forgotten how it could still be quite pleasurable. So I will lift this wine up, and I will go beyond what the label would allow me.”

Over the course of 16 years, Claire has worked hard to implement the following standards:

• • lower yields
  • improved trellising
  • improving the maturity and health of the grapes
  • sorting draconian when it's not enough
  • removing unnecessary or disrespectful handling of the soil

She works as natural as possible, focusing on sustainable viticulture. She also uses natural yeasts, as opposed to cultured ones, and the cellar is gravity-fed, meaning grapes are not damaged before they ferment. No filtration or fining is carried out, as she prefers to rack the wine a few extra times before bottling. This means fewer traces of additives and a more natural wine.

And while Claire works organically, she’s purposefully not certified. She believes the organic accreditation can lead to a standardization of wine, something she is keen to avoid. Instead, Claire seeks to express her freedom from these designations, embracing her independent spirit and the purest love of her craft.