Domaine Henri Richard mainly produces great Pinot Noir. They are a traditional, family-run, organic estate.
Recognised for its Gevrey-Chambertin "Aux Corvées" and "Les Tuileries", as well as for its Grands Crus of Charmes-Chambertin and Mazoyères-Chambertin, the estate also offers a Marsannay "En Larrey", two Coteaux Bourguignon, an Aligoté, a Côtes de Nuits Village white and a Crémant de Bourgogne.
Without oenological input or filtration: it is the obligation to harvest healthy and ripe grapes, to rack without pump, at the right time, to have the clearest possible wine. In short, it's working without a net. The family obtains wines that live up to its requirements: the symbiosis of a grape variety, its terroir and a tradition.
History
It was in 1938 that Jean RICHARD, a former cooper, bought the first plot of Mazoyères-Chambertin and Charmes-Chambertin from the famous Burgundian writer and historian Gaston ROUPNEL. Then, the house in the heart of the village of Gevrey-Chambertin and the two hectares of the same appellation located behind ("Aux Corvées").
His son, Henri RICHARD, joined his father and was part of this first generation of oenologists who graduated in 1939. With his wife Nadia RICHARD and their daughters Margaret and Magali, he put all his knowledge, intelligence and love of wine into creating the estate's reputation.
Before his premature death in 1985, Henri RICHARD transmitted this culture and passion to his eldest daughter, Margaret BASTIEN, as well as to his son-in-law and friend, Jean BASTIEN, who arrived in 1977.
From 1992 to 2012, the estate was joined by Patrick MAROILLER, avant-garde in organic viticulture. In 2001, they began converting the vineyard and Domaine Henri Richard was able to offer its first certified organic wines in 2005.
In 2013, the estate was taken over by the fourth generation, Richard BASTIEN and Sarah BASTIEN-BERTHIER, children of Margaret and Jean, who have wine in their blood. Richard is an oenologist and Sarah has a Masters in Knowledge and International Wine Trade. They were joined the same year by Guillaume BERTHIER, engineer in agronomy and oenologist.
Thanks to the latter, the estate obtained the Démeter certification in 2018 for the production of its wines in biodynamic agriculture.
Vineyards
Rather than accepting the spiral of chemical products, Domaine Henri RIchard's idea was to promote all the biological and biodynamic processes that make it possible to obtain living and stable soils, healthy vines in a preserved environment and great local wines.
Their vines grow in a temperate oceanic climate with continental tendencies, are exposed due east, at an altitude between 250–350 metres, on a clay-limestone subsoil.
Since 1996, all herbicides and acaricides have been abandoned. The estate began its conversion to organic farming in 2001 and obtained its certification in 2005. Since the 2018 vintage, the estate's wines have been certified biodynamic by Démeter.
The Cellar
The cellar is a simple vector to transport grapes into bottles with the most traditional vinifications.
- Manual harvest
- Sorting at reception and gravity vatting
- Work in whole bunches
- Indigenous alcoholic and malolactic fermentations
- Ageing for 12 to 18 months in Burgundy barrels
- Work by natural racking, clarification and stabilization, without filtration
Apart from a slight dose of sulfur before bottling, there is no oenological input in their wines.
