Ropiteau Frères

What you will see

A visit takes you under the stone vaults of the Caves de l'Hôpital, where the wines are aged in barrel in cool, quiet cellars, much as they were three centuries ago. It ends with a tasting of the house's wines, led by its whites from Meursault and the surrounding villages.

History

In 1848 the railway reached Meursault. Jean Ropiteau, a 24-year-old grower and cooper from Monthélie whose Burgundian roots went back to the 16th century, saw that it would carry his wines to new customers, and founded a négociant house with his brothers-in-law. The house kept growing through the 20th century, and in 1940 Auguste Ropiteau bought its present cellars in Meursault, along with an estate sold off by the Hospices de Beaune at a time when wine sold poorly.

The cellars, called the Caves de l'Hôpital, were founded in the 17th century by Johan de Massol, president and royal councillor at the Parlement of Burgundy, and later belonged to the Hospices de Beaune. The name Ropiteau became closely tied to Meursault, and the family fought for its vineyards: Marguerite Ropiteau campaigned to keep the Genevrières climat in the premier cru rank.