Domaine Audiffred Vosne-Romanee "aux Chalandins"

When Henri Audiffred returned to his family's 5-hectare domaine in 2007 after fourteen years at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, he brought with him a single governing conviction: old oak, never new. Aux Chalandins is a village-level lieu-dit in Vosne-Romanée, where the Côte de Nuits' characteristic limestone bedrock sits beneath soils that deliver the mineral precision and red-fruit tension the appellation is known for — without the weight of the Grand Cru belt's deeper clay accumulations.

In the cellar, Henri applies 100% destemming, a brief cold maceration to extract colour and aromatic precursors before fermentation kicks off with exclusively indigenous yeasts, then moves into wooden vats for 15–18 days with pigeage and remontage at least three times daily. The élevage runs 16–18 months in exclusively used oak barrels — zero new wood — before manual bottling, unfined and unfiltered. That refusal of new oak at any level of the range is the domaine's defining transgression in a Côte de Nuits context where new-barrel percentages routinely climb with prestige.

The 2022 Burgundy growing season delivered generous ripeness tempered by well-timed August rainfall, producing village-level wines of unusual density and freshness in tandem. Aux Chalandins in this vintage rewards a short decant now and will continue to develop through 2030–2033.