Vosne-Romanee "Aux Champs Perdrix"

When Henri Audiffred returned to the family's 5-hectare domaine in 2007 after 14 years at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, he made one defining break from Côte de Nuits convention: no new oak, ever — a direct inversion of the new-wood-heavy élevage common among his neighbours. Aux Champs Perdrix is a village-level lieu-dit in Vosne-Romanée, where the limestone-bedded soils of the appellation's mid-slope deliver the taut mineral frame that distinguishes Vosne from the richer clay profiles further south toward Nuits-Saint-Georges.

In the cellar, 100% destemmed Pinot Noir undergoes a brief cold maceration before wild-yeast fermentation kicks off in wooden vats (cuves en bois); pigeage and remontage are executed at least three times daily across a 15–18-day total maceration. The wine then rests 16–18 months in exclusively old/used barrels with two rackings, before being bottled manually, unfined and unfiltered.

What separates this cuvée from most village Vosne is the DRC-calibrated precision applied to a lieu-dit that rarely receives this level of attention: the result is a terroir-transparent expression rather than an oak-amplified one. The 2022 vintage — warm and generous across the Côte de Nuits — delivers concentrated fruit underpinned by Vosne's characteristic limestone minerality; drink from 2026 through 2034.