Chanterêves

Founded in just 2010, this exciting producer has catapulted to become a poster child for Burgundy’s impressive band of new-wave micro-négociants. In 2017, when we shipped our first Chanterêves wines from Tomoko Kuriyama and Guillaume Bott, we knew we were onto a winner.

A brief snapshot: Tomoko originates from Japan but studied at the famous wine university of Geisenheim, Germany. She then worked as Estate Manager at the well-known Rheingau Estate of Friedrich Altenkirch, before moving to Burgundy for a stint at Simon Bize. Tomoko is now committed to Chanterêves full time (as of early 2020), but before that she spent her days lovingly as a contract vigneron at Chandon de Briailles. In a beautiful dichotomy, Guillaume is a Burgundian by birth and toil, and following studies at the Lycée Viticole of Beaune, Guillaume worked at Sauzet before joining Patrick Bize at Domaine Simon Bize in 2002, where he met Tomoko.

Tomoko acts like a mother hen to her vines, faultlessly caring and fastidious—and of course no pesticides, herbicides or machinery are allowed anywhere near her vineyards. The style, in a nutshell, is heartfelt. Guillaume and Tomoko lean toward purity, finesse and vineyard expression, with very little winemaking artifice. The grapes are wild-fermented, and the reds take in a high proportion of whole-bunches to contribute fragrance and lithe structure.

Chanterêves has various, well thought out contracts in place to purchase fruit, with a focus on appellations in the Côte de Beaune. As they progressed from négociant to Domaine, the pair recently acquired an organic, horse-ploughed plot of very old-vine Aligoté situated between Ladoix and Corgoloin north of Beaune. This purchase was followed in early 2020 by more parcels of vines in Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, Chorey-les-Beaune and Savigny-lès-Beaune (Dessus de Montchenevoy). Together, sometime in the future, these vineyards will herald the first releases from Domaine Chanterêves.