Vignoble Dampt Frères

What you will see

At the cellar door in Collan you can taste across the three valleys, comparing a Chablis from the Serein with a Bourgogne Tonnerre from the Armançon and an Irancy from the Yonne. One cuvée is named after the Chevalier d'Éon, the most famous son of Tonnerre, a spy of Louis XV who lived part of his life dressed as a woman, and an early ambassador for Tonnerre wines at the courts of Europe. Most whites are aged in stainless steel, a few cuvées in oak for six to twelve months.

History

Their father, Bernard Dampt, was a farmer with a small cereal holding and a herd of sheep and calves, but he wanted his sons Éric, Emmanuel and Hervé to have a future in the family's old trade. In 1982 he planted his first vine, a plot called Bréchain in the Chablis appellation at Fyé. With Éric he then planted Chardonnay at Les Joudres in Tonnerre, helping to revive a vineyard that phylloxera had wiped out. Year after year the brothers extended the estate and bought land in premiers and grands crus.

Today the range runs from Bourgogne Tonnerre and Épineuil to Petit Chablis, Chablis, premiers crus such as Côte de Léchet, Montée de Tonnerre and Mont de Milieu, and the grands crus Blanchot, Bougros, Les Clos, Les Preuses and Vaudésir, plus Saint-Bris, Irancy and crémant. The estate has been certified High Environmental Value since 2017 and is converting part of its vines to organic farming. Grands crus, old vines and young vines are picked by hand, and each plot is made separately.