Henri & Gilles Buisson
Domaine Henri & Gilles Buisson farms 13 hectares from Saint-Romain in the Côte de Beaune, mainly within the Saint-Romain, Santenay and Beaune appellations. Henri Buisson converted the vineyards to biodynamic practice in 1990; today Franck and Frédéric Buisson run the family estate. The vines grow on limestone soils with varying expositions, rising in Saint-Romain to 400 metres, where the nights stay cool and the grapes ripen more slowly. In the cellar the wines ferment spontaneously, and ageing takes place in barriques and tonneaux of 228, 350 and 500 litres, of which at most ten percent are replaced each year.
Three generations of Buisson
The estate's name carries two generations, Henri and Gilles Buisson; Franck and Frédéric Buisson now continue the biodynamic work in the vineyards. A third family line reaches back to Meursault: grandmother Marguerite Buisson brought parcels there into her dowry, and from Chevalières and Luchets, where 70-year-old vines grow at around 280 metres, comes the chardonnay for Les Vignes de Marguerite.
The vineyards of Saint-Romain
Sous la Velle lies near the village and borders Sous le Château to the north. The site faces southeast, rises from 355 to 380 metres, and carries a colluvisol over the limestone of the Saint-Romain marl; the chardonnay vines there are 60 years old. Sous Roche lies in the eastern part of the appellation, facing east, at 350 metres, on a calcosol over Saint-Romain marl and likewise with 60-year-old vines; the Pinot Noir from there shows forest berries over a limestone thread. Perrière, Sous le Château and Combe Bazin complete the range.
Saint-Romain climbs to 400 metres, the nights stay cool, and the grapes hold their acidity into the late harvest. From the top of the hill, from unclassified parcels with vines around 40 years old, comes the Bourgogne blanc, rounded out with grapes from organically certified fellow growers in Pouilly-Fuissé.
In the cellar: spontaneous fermentation and barrel ageing
Harvesting is done by hand. For Sous la Velle, whole clusters go straight into the press, the must ferments spontaneously in wood, and malolactic fermentation starts on its own in barrel. Sous Roche is partially destemmed, ferments in stainless steel, and receives punching-down and pumping-over. Ageing lasts ten to twelve months in barriques and tonneaux; for the Bourgogne blanc and the Meursault, WineGlobes and concrete eggs are added. Frédéric Buisson tastes the barrels daily and racks them whenever he judges it necessary. Fining is done with bentonite, filtration stays very light, and sulphur is added only at bottling, at no more than 40 to 50 milligrams of total sulphite per litre. The Saint-Romain blanc Sous La Velle "ABSULO" remains entirely without sulphur.
From Aligoté to Corton Grand Cru
The Aligoté for Pierre Percée was planted in 1978 and sits quite high on the slope, on limestone with marl and clay; it ages on full lees in used barrels with a small proportion of new oak. For the Pinot Noir, the range runs from Santenay, with Croix Sorine and the premier cru Clos de la Comme, through Beaune, Pommard Le Village and the Volnay 1er Cru Chanlin, up to the Corton Grands Crus Le Rognet-et-Corton and Les Renardes.