Domaine des Chézeaux

Named by the Mercier family, the name Chézeaux comes from the village terroir that is located just outside the estate buildings just north of the Château Gevrey-Chambertin. Having first secured vines in the Gevrey-Chambertin region in 1928, it was 1982 when François Mercier established the label Domaine des Chézeaux, building strong contracts with Burgundy vignerons. The Mercier family’s portfolio of vineyards were entirely leased to other vignerons, with the majority going to Laurent Ponsot with access to Le Chambertin, Clos Saint-Denis, 57% of Griotte-Chambertin, and Chambolle Charmes. The Gevrey 1er Cru and village plots were taken care of by Domaine Berthaut in Fixin, with the rest of the Griotte-Chambertin holdings (43%) leased to Domaine René Leclerc. Being métayage agreements, the vignerons were required to provide a percentage of their wines back to the estate as their form of rent, then to be bottled and sold under the old Domaine des Chézeaux label. 

By 1994, this historic estate had grown to a respectable 4 hectares and ahead of the 1994 vintage, the Mercier family purchased another parcel of Griotte-Chambertin, an additional 0.68 hectares giving them the largest holding of this Grand Cru.

With 3 métayage agreements linking other producers to the Domaine des Chézeaux vineyards it took time for Charles to outline exactly which vineyards came under his domaine. This took a large amount of negotiating with each producer with fruitful returns of securing the monopole Clos des Chézeaux and Premier Cru Les Cazetiers in 2022 and a parcel of Griotte-Chambertin in 2023. Later in 2024 he had recovered the last few vineyards of Chambertin, Clos Saint-Denis and Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Charmes, with the remaining being sold to the existing contract holders to ease negotiations. These wines will make an appearance in Charles’ second vintage of 2024.

Looking deeper into the vineyards, most vines on the estate are quite old, having been carefully tended to for the past 40 plus years. Carried over from his work in the family domaine, Charles has decided to keep the winemaking identical to that of the Hudelot-Noëllat range. Fully de-stemming the fruit and a nice gentle extraction. Slight changes may come into play for future vintages as the new winery is still in the process of being set up (2023 was vinified at the family domaine). A key difference has been noted with the wines being cellared at Chézeaux and the development as the wines matures altering just a little within a cooler and slightly humid cellar. This means topping up less for the slow development through élevage and allowing a longer time within bottle for ageing. 

As it stands in Charles Van Canneyt’s name, the estate holds about 3 hectares of vines across 6 appellations, with over half being Grand Cru. Below is a breakdown of the vineyards:

• Gevrey-Chambertin Clos des Chézeaux: Monopole vineyard of 0.5 hectares, vines planted in 1929. Mid-slope and facing southeast, the village site has deep, clay-rich soils with gravel.
• Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Cazetiers: 0.216 hectares 
• Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Charmes: 0.6 hectares
• Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru: 0.3776 hectares which is now being replanted and out of action until 2029. 
• Chambertin Grand Cru: 0.143 hectares in the heart of this Grand Cru.
• Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru: 1.264 hectares of vines in the heart of the tiny appellation. 

“The 2023 vintage is the first that Charles van Canneyt has produced at Domaine des Chézeaux, which he an his wife Anne-Sophie Gagey acquired recently. Sharecropping agreements with Ponsot, Berthaut and René Leclerc were concluded, so Van Canneyt is now farming the parcels and making the wines. The winemaking approach is much the same as at Hudelot-Noëllat.”  - William Kelley, Wine Advocate.

We are extremely honoured to be importing Domaine des Chezeaux wines.