Huré Frères

The Huré family owns 10ha divided among the villages of Ludes, Villedomange, Brouillet, Serzy, Prin and Vavray, and also buy in some Chardonnay from a further 1.5ha in Rilly-la Montagne and Villers-Marmery. Brothers François and Pierre are second generation winemakers, their father and his two brothers having built the estate from almost nothing in the 1970s. François, the winemaker of the two, began working at the estate in 2008, and Pierre, now the viticulturist, joined in 2013.

The slopes are north facing, something that wasn't so desirable fifty years ago, but which has proven to be a wise decision in the face of climate change. The area is dominated by very wet chalk soil; as Pierre says, it's as though they've planted vineyards in a giant sponge, as the soil retains enough water for the vines to sustain themselves through the hot summers.

The estate began to eliminate the use of herbicides in 2006 and started adopting biodynamic methods. Vineyard work has been fine tuned to cater to the needs of each individual parcel, something François learned while working in Burgundy. In the cellar they also work to bring the best out of each plot, using a mix of steel tanks, large oak foudres and small oak barrels. Fermentation is conducted using natural yeast and wines are kept on lees for long periods of time. This is still an under-the-radar domaine, but it might not stay that way for long as these complex, gastronomic wines are going from strength to strength each year.