Young Burgundy Winemakers to Watch (and Drink)

Elden Selections Features Young Burgundy Winemakers

Life, it seems, is all about opposites. The differences between them (call them ‘tensions’ if you prefer) are what give life its variety and zest. The light and the dark; the mild and the strong; the young and the old(er). In the wine world, these same dichotomies are present too, especially when it comes to age. A young wine has a different character than an old wine; similarly, a young vine grows differently and bears different grapes compared to an old vine. But what about when it comes to winemakers themselves?

You may be forgiven for thinking of a winemaker, especially in the historic region of Burgundy, as always being an older person, probably a man. But though that may once have been the case, it’s no longer an accurate picture. Because the winemakers of today’s Burgundy are a varied bunch, a range of ages, both men and women, and all with different outlooks on wine and different styles. There are many great younger Burgundy winemakers just waiting to be discovered.

Trends of the Young Winemaker (and Drinker)

Of course, it depends how you want to define ‘younger’. You’ve probably heard the term “Millennials”, (generally meaning a person born between 1981 and 1996), and even GenZ (defined as those born from about 1997 to the early 2010s). Each of these groups supposedly has their own world view, shaped by the socio­economic conditions they had when they were growing up.

In terms of wine consumption, we’ve heard a lot about the “young” folk of today consuming less wine than their older relatives. There are a variety of claimed reasons for it, from increased competition from the heavily advertised spirits brands, to the growing trend for low alcohol and no alcohol drinks. There is some truth to this, and of course tastes change from generation to generation (though they’re often circular, not stuck forever).

But one of the other explanations for wine drinking getting less traction and attention among younger people, is that they don’t see people like them making it and enjoying it. They, perhaps understandably, may think of old white men in their cellars, who they perhaps can’t relate to, or who they don’t get excited about. Maybe they think there’s good reasons for not getting excited – that the wines they produce are for older folk, stronger wines maybe, more inaccessible, and certainly more expensive than they can afford. Especially with a market like Burgundy, price is often a decisive factor for young people. So what can be done?

Well, one way to redress this imbalance is to start creating room for more independent young Burgundy wine makers. They act as a sort of injection of vitality and freshness into a market that may seem to be at risk of being a little stale or unwelcoming. We sometimes forget that even the oldest winemakers were young once; they too started out with little more than a dream, making their own mistakes, and creating their own legend year by year. That’s how techniques are created and refined, and the wines that are produced benefit enormously from them.

Unfortunately, often people don’t get to know about young Burgundy winemakers and their fantastic wines – for the simple reason that they’re crowded out by the bigger, more established names, and they don’t have the money or the connections to advertise and pay to be seen.

That’s where we come in. Here at BurgundyWine.com, we always make sure we have plenty of high quality “Everyday Burgundy Wines Under $40” ­ part of our commitment to the philosophy of 'You CAN drink Burgundy everyday'.

When it comes to our winemakers, we admit that we can't (yet!) say we have 30 under 35 years of age, but we work with and sell wines from a fast ­growing cohort of younger Burgundy winemakers, millennial and even GenZ producers. Let us introduce you to a few of them here:

The Young Burgundy Winemakers Elden Selection’s Works With:

• William Whitehead at Domaine Rebourgeon: The story of this Domaine is fascinating and unique. The Domaine can trace its roots right back to 1540, but more recently, a lady called Marie Bourgogne married Emile Rebourgeon, and the name that is still used today was established. One of the sons born to Marie was the eponymous Michel, who took charge of the Domaine in the 1960s. His daughter – Delphine – met and married Stephen Whitehead, who had a wine business in the UK. When Michel retired, the couple took over the reigns in Burgundy, and their son William came along. He’s now in charge, and is taking the winery from strength to strength. Today, they farm 4.25 hectares of land around one of the finest wine­growing communes in all of Burgundy — Pommard (and one to look out for if you have not yet discovered small appellations, which can rival ‘big’ names any day of the week.) 20,000 bottles are produced annually from their small but perfectly formed operation. This young Burgundy wine producer has transformed the profile of the business – using social media and good old word of mouth – and their star has risen further. For all young William Whitehead’s verve, somewhere way back in the mists of time his ancestors were also looking to the future. Browse his wines here on the BurgundyWine.com shop.

• Ludivine Griveau – Chief Winemaker at Hospices de Beaune: to describe Ludivine as a winemaker doesn’t quite do her role justice; the French term is régisseur, which reflects the fact that she not only manages the 60 hectare wine estate, but also vinifies all the wines sold by the Hospice each year. She has 23 vignerons who manage the smaller parcels of land and are employees of the Hospices. But as well as business as usual management, Ludivine has implemented many changes and innovations since she arrived in 2015; they now have advanced software which can monitor the tanks and conditions in the vat room. And from the vintage of 2024, the whole Hospice de Beaune Estate is now certified Organic, thanks in large to part to Ludivine’s efforts. But this was no overnight success; she has worked her way up to this prestigious position only after having spent many years learning the trade from some of the finest winemakers in Burgundy. Born in 1978 near to Beaune, but not into a winemaking family, she gained a double diploma in agronomy and oenology in Dijon. She then gained a variety of experience working with producers as far away as Australia, before returning to France and spending a decade making wine in the prestigious appellation of Aloxe­-Corton. After winning winemaker of the year in 2014, the following year she became the first woman in 473 years to be the chief winemaker at the HdB. No small feat in a historically male dominated industry. In 2016 came another distinction: being made a brother of Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, the body which represents and promotes the winemakers of Burgundy both at home and throughout the world. Further recognition was to follow in 2019 when she was given the prestigious Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite. To view the Hospices de Beaune wines sold by BurgundyWine.com then click this link. And you can click here to learn more about how you too can buy a barrel with us or a share in a barrel at the next Hospices Auction and join in the fun.

• Pierre Arcelain at Domaine Michel Arcelain: They’ve been making wines here from generation to generation for hundreds of years, even through the phylloxera crisis which sank other producers. Today the Domaine is run by the grandson of the eponymous Michel Arcelain – Pierre Arcelain and his wife Charlotte. But although they are young producers, their philosophy is one which looks both forward and backwards. They have an alliance of traditional and modern production methods. For example, vinification is traditional and oak barrels are about 15 years old. But their white wine is aged in a concrete egg for 12 months (the particular shape of this vat creates a perpetual and circular movement of the lees during ageing). Browse his wines here at BurgundyWine.com.

• Bertrand Brigandat at Pierre Brigandat et Fils: Bertrand is one of the young Burgundy wine producers who is at the forefront of the small production revolution. He graduated from the Avise BTS in 1993 with a special ‘viti-oeno’ degree, and knows exactly what it takes to produce superb champagne, which is bottled at his family’s domain. He took over from mum and dad back in 1993, and helped build a new winery, which in turn helped create the style he is now known for. Get his Champagne Brut here.

It’s not always easy to be a young or upcoming winemaker in Burgundy. History matters and so do impressions; a young winemaker once observed that if you do something wrong in Burgundy, you’re banned for three generations, only half-jokingly. So what does this New Burgundy scene mean for the region and its wines?

Some observers think that, far from taking things in a new direction and upending tradition, the new winemakers are actually sticking quite faithfully to the great Burgundian traditions which have cemented the region at the forefront of quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. Their reasoning for thinking this? In the past, established winemakers may have been guilty of hiding behind their names and pointing to their Premier or Grand Cru status, often because all they knew was Burgundy, through and through. But now with the crop of younger Burgundy winemakers, they really have travelled the world in many cases, they’ve seen other ways of doing things, and they use technology to connect themselves to a variety of influences – but they still do it largely in the traditional Burgundy way. That’s the real proof that Burgundy delivers – sure, the techniques may evolve and the ideas and ethos might move on a generation, but under it all is the same Burgundy, delivering world class wines – younger winemakers, producing for a younger audience.

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