Description
Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot, Grand Cru Echézeaux
In the late 1920s, the New York Yankees were given the nickname “Murderer’s Row” because their lineup—which included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig—was so fearfully good. That moniker comes to mind as I survey the wide-ranging vineyard holdings of Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot, one of Burgundy’s enduring classics.
Parents Jean-Jacques “Jacky” (Confuron) and Bernadette (Cotetidot), who created the domaine in 1964, still work the vines; Yves and Jack now handle day-to-day operations and winemaking, while simultaneously holding positions at other properties. The family farms about 12 hectares of vineyards in sites from ‘village’ level to Grand Cru, and they’ve even developed a clone of Pinot Noir that carries their name: “Pinot Confuron.” Vines are an average of 65 years or older, hand-harvested, and cared for tirelessly to produce low yields. Farming has always been done organically, without the use of synthetic pesticides or herbicides, and wines are unfiltered and unfined. They apply 100% whole-cluster fermentation, followed by a multi-week maceration and up to two years in the barrel—the amount of new oak dependent on the appellation.
Within the northern section of Vosne-Romanée, Echézeaux is a sprawling Grand Cru vineyard wedged in the intersecting corner of Chambolle-Musigny and Vougeot. It houses 11 distinct climats, or subdivided vineyard plots, and Confuron-Cotetidot’s tiny parcel—1.1 acres—of 55-year-old vines lies in “Les Treux.” Brothers Yves and Jean-Pierre “Jack” Confuron have continued to build on what their parents started back in the 1960s, mostly by not changing anything: The vines are old, perfectly placed, and have never seen an ounce of synthetic spray; they’ve been farmed naturally since day one. Rows are regularly plowed and harvest is conducted by hand after a judicious grape selection. The grapes undergo a lengthy fermentation via indigenous yeasts and the resulting wine ages two years in French barrels, 50% new.
