Domaine Bonneau du Martray

Domaine Bonneau du Martray is a highly regarded wine producer based in the village of Pernand-Vergelesses, in the Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy's Cote d'Or heartland, a stone's throw from the famed Hill of Corton (Montagne de Corton). Bonneau du Martray is dedicated to the production of two grand crus: Corton and Corton-Charlemagne. It is the only estate in Burgundy to make wines exclusively from Grand Cru vineyards. Having been in the hands of long-time owners, the le Bault de la Moriniere family, the domaine was sold in 2017 to American businessman Stanley Kroenke, who also owns Screaming Eagle in California’s Napa Valley. He is now the fifth owner of the estate, which can be dated back to the French Revolution.

Estate-owned vineyads are all located in a single parcel on the famous Corton Hill. The 23.5-acre (9.5-ha) parcel of Chardonnay is the largest single holding in the Grand Cru. This Corton-Charlemagne produced here by the estate is widely regarded as one of the greatest white wines made from Chardonnay in Burgundy. The other 3.7-acre (1.5-hectare) plot is planted to Pinot Noir for Corton. These wines have been domaine bottled since 1969. In the winery, fermentations are separated according to the vineyard block that the grapes are sourced from. All fermentations are spontaneous with no innoculations or commercial yeasts utilized. Up to 30-percent new oak is for 12 months of barrel maturation prior to a further 6 months of ageing in tanks. Wines are lightly filtered prior to bottling. Day to day, the estate is managed by Thibault Jacquet who has seamlessly continued the impeccable work that Jean-Charles le Bault de la Moriniere started before him, while the rest of the team remains largely unchanged.

Domaine Bonneau du Martray is one of the most well-known biodynamic estates in Burgundy and in 2018, a small parcel of Chardonnay vines in Corton-Charlemagne was leased to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, leaving them just under seven hectares of prime grand cru vines to focus their meticulous biodynamic methods on. Their Pinot Noir plantings in Corton cover just over 1.5 hectares.