Visiting Burgundy’s Young Guard with Eric Millard

Last year for the first time our trip to see Eric Millard corresponded with the Vente des Vins des Hospices de Beaune. This event, famous for its auction of limited production wines, draws thousands of people to Beaune for a weekend of revelry. Vendors set up booths around the centrally located Place Carnot selling bottles of local wine and hors d’oeuvres to a raucous crowd.

The morning after we arrived began at Eric’s new cooperage in Rully with espresso and croissants on the head of a barrel. Eric purchased this building in 2023 after outgrowing the shed where he was making barrels in Meursault. It is a quick skip from his home in Santenay and suited perfectly to his humble outfit. Although laidback, it is very clear how handcrafted Eric’s barrels are and the work that requires. Stacks of stave wood around the cooperage are labeled by forest - Tronçais, Bercé, Bitche, Fontainebleau and more. After seeing the new building, tools, wood stocks and catching up on production we headed for lunch at the Restaurant Le Soufflot de Meursault. C’est ultra bon!

The afternoon plan was to visit two Millard clients in the Cote de Beaune. First, Domaine Michelot-Mestre with 7th generation winemaker Nicolas Mestre. For his enviable collection of vineyards around Meursault, he uses a variety of different vessels for elevage including 500L and 228L barrels from Eric. Very clear in his conviction that he seeks oak that will tighten the wine and preserve the sense of site, he remarked that the wines are notably more to his liking since working with Millard.

Early evening by the time we walked out of Nicolas’s cellar to drive to our second visit Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay in Chassagne-Montrachet. Highly recommend checking those guys out. Bastien, young and wise, lead a tasting first from barrel and then bottle in his ancient cave under the house. Eric is the primary cooper in his cellar, including crafting the single new barrel for his Bâtard Montrachet.

Take away lesson from these young Burgundians:

If you want Burgundy barrels

made by an expert

from France’s best oak

choose

Eric Millard