Emmanuel Giboulot
Having gained media fame in 2014 for refusing to treat his vines with pesticides against flavescence dorée, Emmanuel Giboulot is, above all, a great winemaker who passionately champions a particular philosophy of viticulture and a highly personal style of wine.
His estate covers 12 hectares, including 5.30 hectares of white Côte de Beaune across three lieux-dits: La Grande Châtelaine, Les Pierres Blanches and La Combe d’Eve. And then, of course, Saint-Romain and the Hautes Côtes de Nuits, Rully Premier Cru ‘La Pucelle’, and also the estate’s latest addition, which has all the makings of a great wine… at the foot of the hillsides, Les Terres Burgondes, an IGP replanted with Pinot Noir, Pinot Beurrot and Chardonnay.
Emmanuel Giboulot by Emmanuel Giboulot
As early as the 1970s, my father Paul Giboulot, a pioneer of organic viticulture, turned to organic vineyard management. He championed – long before it became fashionable – ploughing, composting, the use of materials that respect soil life and biodiversity, and, in the cellar, a ‘gentle’ ageing process to allow each plot (climat) to express itself naturally.
I got into organic farming when I was just a lad (‘minot’ in Burgundian dialect) and, inspired by the values and common sense of this farming heritage, I set up my farm in 1985 and naturally chose to go organic straight away. After all, what could be more natural?
By 1996, the entire estate was being farmed biodynamically.
Three core values
Purity
Purity, because that is how I love wines and always will. Unadulterated, true to themselves in the glass, with fruit and/or minerality expressed without artifice. That is why I choose to limit the use of oak, and in particular new oak barrels.
The character
The winemaker has character, and so do the vines. Every plot is different: its aspect, planting pattern, proximity to the forest or water, the soils of course, the age of the vines… And above all, the character of the vintage – whether it was a hot or cold year, an early or late one, and the timing of flowering and the harvest. Great or modest: all terroirs and vintages matter and must be respected so that the wine can express its true character and tell beautiful stories, each one different.
The distinctive character
In viticulture, less is more. In other words, the less we interfere with the natural functioning of the soil and its regeneration by microorganisms, and the less we intervene in the biodiversity chain, the closer we get to wines that truly express the character and complexity of their terroirs.
The Emmanuel Giboulot estate in pictures
(source: Emmanuel Giboulot)