Theo Dancer

The name Vincent Dancer should ring a bell if you are a lover of white Burgundy. Theo, Vincent's son, has been working with his father at the Domaine and in recent vintages has pretty much fully taken the reins. Aside from taking over the Domaine and continuing the work his father has taught him, Theo has started his own project as well. The labels really speak to the ethos; when you see the label, you think of Vincent Dancer, and they honor the tradition of the philosophies in the cellar, simply because it works. However, the labels are also a bit different, showing innovation, which is just what Theo is doing.

Theo is working with some grape varietals that are nontraditional to Burgundy, incorporating grapes like Savagnin and Pinot Gris and making them in Burgundy. Don't worry, he is still making some classic varietals like Aligote and Gamay. When tasting the wines you feel the soul of Dancer's transparency along with the energy of a 23-year-old, talented winemaker.

Theo is focusing on healthy farming, sourcing grapes from the right people and the right vineyards, and trusting in the work they put into their vines. While not all of the vineyards are yet certified organic, each is being treated with the utmost care and a "hands-off" approach.

Theo works on trusting his instincts and experience with his father to create the best expression of each wine that he can. In the cellar, the object is to keep it minimalist: native yeasts, no enzymes or acids, natural malolactic fermentation, no batonnage, and no fining or filtering. While each wine is given the same approach, there is some variation to length of racking, fermentation vessels, and more.

With Roc Breïa, a newly born estate from a 10-hectare plot in the Maconnais. What is unique to this plot is that it used to be farmed conventionally; "When seeing the plot there wasn't life—that was a challenge, but an exciting challenge." This sort of blank slate gave Theo the opportunity to use farming techniques he has learned from his father and implement them into a new vineyard, starting from scratch and really seeing it come to life. A challenge that removed the negative connotation that comes along with the word, and simply excited him. In the Cote d'Or, it is traditional to see many different cuvées in a domaine's range. Unlike the traditional wide ranges of cuvées found in the Cote d’Or, Theo wanted to pursue something a bit simpler for Roc Breïa, using 10-hectare just to make two wines: a Chardonnay coming from 60+ years old vines and a Pinot Noir coming from 35+ years old vines.