Les Ponts Blancs 2016 | Yann Durieux | Burgundy

Yann Durieux is a fourth-generation vigneron from Nuits-Saint-Georges who made his first solo harvest at the age of thirteen. He spent the following decade training: first at Clos des Vignes du Maynes, where Julien Guillot introduced him to biodynamics, and then ten years as head of viticulture at Domaine Prieuré-Roch, managing parcels including Clos-de-Bèze under the guidance of Henri-Frédéric Roch — co-owner of Romanée-Conti — who encouraged him to vinify his first two personal vintages in 2008 and 2009 in the Prieuré-Roch cellars. In 2010 he founded Recrue des Sens with his partner Christela, reclaiming his grandfather's abandoned vines in Villers-la-Faye and Messanges.

The domaine now works around 15 hectares at 400 metres altitude in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti as a neighbour in the vineyards below and the Abbaye de Saint-Vivant — the historical birthplace of DRC's Romanée-Saint-Vivant — on the horizon. Soils are clay-limestone, with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Aligoté vines of forty years and older.

In the vineyard he farms biodynamically; in the cellar the rule is "nothing added, nothing removed": wild-yeast fermentations, whole-cluster maceration, foot pigeage only, no fining, no filtration, zero or minimal sulfur depending on the vintage. Most wines are bottled as Vin de France — a deliberate choice to escape AOC restrictions and work with full creative freedom. The range runs from the skin-macerated Aligoté of Les Ponts Blancs to the Tête de Ponts, the only wine in the house aged in 100% new oak for two years. Widely called the Maverick of Burgundy, his wines have reached cult status among collectors and natural wine enthusiasts worldwide.