Why it matters
The producer
Vincent Girardin began independently in 1980, aged 19, continuing a Santenay family winemaking line that reaches back to the 17th century. In 2012, Vincent and Véronique Girardin transferred management to Jean-Pierre Nié of Compagnie des Vins d’Autrefois in Beaune, while Eric Germain remained central to the wines as house oenologist. The result is a house with a long family starting point but a continuity of cellar direction visible in Chardonnay such as Meursault Vieilles Vignes.
The estate grew from Vincent Girardin’s original two hectares into a reported 40 hectares by 2011, with Côte de Beaune holdings matched by Beaujolais vineyards. That expansion brought more vineyard ground into the range, while the 2012 handover placed management with Jean-Pierre Nié and retained Eric Germain in the cellar. The named wines therefore span a Bourgogne Chardonnay, a village Meursault and a Volnay rather than one single style.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The house works across the Côte de Beaune, where its range includes wines from Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Saint-Aubin, Santenay, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Beaune, Aloxe-Corton, Volnay, Pommard and Saint-Romain. Those names on a label are not interchangeable: Meursault Vieilles Vignes is a Chardonnay drawn from named Meursault sites, while Bourgogne Chardonnay Terroir Noble gathers fruit from Puligny, Chassagne and Meursault for a broader white Burgundy expression.
By 2011 the reported estate covered about 20 hectares in the Côte de Beaune and 20 in Beaujolais, the latter enlarged through the 2010 acquisition of La Tour du Bief. The house also works with long-standing outside growers, so the bottle name and appellation remain the practical guide to where its grapes were grown.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The vineyards use natural compost, herbal teas and decoctions, high trellising, hand-harvesting and sorting both on the vine and in the winery. With no herbicides or insecticides in the stated practice, the work aims to bring intact grapes into the cellar; fruit quality then carries the floral, citrus and stone-fruit character found in the whites.
For Meursault Vieilles Vignes, hand-picked Chardonnay is lightly crushed and pneumatically pressed before fermentation and malolactic conversion in 500-litre French oak barrels, only 10% of them new. Fifteen months on fine lees builds a creamy mid-palate, while limited new oak avoids turning the wine into a barrel flavour. Across the house, new oak is used sparingly; a 2012 profile reported that 80% of barrels came from François Frères.
Wines to know
The range in view
Bourgogne Chardonnay Terroir Noble is the broad white: Chardonnay from Puligny, Chassagne and Meursault, with ripe lemon, apple, pear and a floral note over stone fruit and a buttery, creamy texture. Its freshness and mineral character keep the body from feeling heavy.
Meursault Vieilles Vignes narrows the address to five named Meursault climates and older Chardonnay vines. It has more structural weight: floral and nut notes, a rich creamy attack, body and freshness shaped by barrel fermentation and extended lees ageing.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Choose Meursault Vieilles Vignes. It is Chardonnay from five named Meursault climates, grown on old limestone and marl by vines averaging 50 years, then fermented in 500-litre oak barrels with only 10% new wood and aged on fine lees for 15 months. Floral and nut aromas, a rich creamy attack and fresh structure put site, cellar and texture in the same glass.