Picture of Aufauvre-Bouley, Jean Vineyard Map

Aufauvre-Bouley, Jean

CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET – This is a true “mom and pop” outfit. Jean Aufauvre and his wife, Natalie, are like elf people in their 400-year old home in the center of this prestigious wine town. They sell all of their wine out of their charming home – all, that is, except 10 – 15 cases of each wine which they export to me. Since Jean had never exported wine before, I actually had to teach him how to do it. Now I have an exclusive on some of Chassagne-Montrachet’s finest wines.

Like all of my winemakers, these folks are craftsman. Until his death on the eve of the 2003 harvest, Jean was the dean of all the winemakers in Chassagne-Montrachet. He always said that all of the town’s winemakers start with basically the same fruit, but the better winemakers do more with that fruit. Now, with help from respected townspeople, Jean’s 85-year old wife (Natalie) continues the family legacy.

The Aufauvre family doesn’t fully press the grapes; so the juice is of much higher quality. It’s no wonder that in taste tests against other similar wines, these wines are always among the highest rated.

The Aufauvre-Bouley wines are the type of wines that Americans taste in France, but can never find in America. I feel fortunate to have this tiny allocation of these most exclusive wines from this storied town.