Domaine du Couvent, Pinot Noir, Bourgogne Côte d’Or, 'Les Jumelles'

It’s been said for generations that Burgundy is a game of inches—and often, a game that makes no sense once you know who drew the lines. When the appellation borders were first established, power and privilege often played a bigger role than terroir. The wealthy négociants and landowners—those who bought grapes from small farmers—had every incentive to classify the vineyards they didn’t own as lesser sites, so they could pay less for the fruit. No one would ever do that, right? Of course, history tells us otherwise. There are countless examples—Lavaux Saint-Jacques in Gevrey-Chambertin among them—of Premier Cru sites that would almost certainly be Grand Cru if the powerful had owned them. And that’s what makes wines like today’s so thrilling: parcels technically labeled “Bourgogne,” yet sitting just inches outside the Gevrey-Chambertin border, but bordered by classified vines. You put your nose in the glass, and without knowing the appellation or producer, you’d swear you were drinking Gevrey itself. It’s the kind of wine that makes you shake your head, smile, and quietly celebrate the loopholes of history—because today you can drink a “Gevrey” for about fifty bucks. And it’s smoking good.

The name Domaine du Couvent might sound new, but its story runs deep into Gevrey’s past. In 2020, winemaker Philippe Chéron—whose family has worked the Côte de Nuits for nearly a century—merged two legacies: the holdings of his family’s Domaine Misset-Chéron, founded in the 1930s, and the historic Domaine des Varoilles estate in Gevrey-Chambertin. The latter included the old convent property that now serves as the heart and namesake of the new domaine, along with its celebrated monopoles Clos des Varoilles, La Romanée, and Clos du Couvent. From Vosne-Romanée’s Les Barreaux to Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey’s limestone slopes, Chéron now oversees more than ten hectares of vineyards spanning some of Burgundy’s most coveted villages. His approach—precise, organic, and deeply respectful of old vines—has unified these once-separate histories into one of the region’s most quietly exciting new estates. As Burgundy Report wrote at the time, “goodbye Domaine des Varoilles, hello Domaine du Couvent”—a succinct way of saying the lineage continues, but the energy is new.

“Les Jumelles” (The Twins) comes from two adjoining parcels, Les Grands Champs and Prunier, on the lower slopes just south of Gevrey-Chambertin—both technically classified as Bourgogne Côte d’Or, yet every bit the DNA of Gevrey itself. The fruit is hand-harvested, destemmed but uncrushed, and fermented on native yeasts after a brief cold soak. Élevage lasts around fifteen months on fine lees in barrel, only about twenty percent new oak, with minimal racking and a delicate touch of sulfur just before bottling. The 2023 vintage produced vividly pure fruit—wild cherry, redcurrant, dried blood-orange peel, rusty iron, and crushed rose—wrapped around a fine-grained structure that feels lifted yet substantial. It’s a wine that hums with limestone tension and quiet power, tasting every bit like a Gevrey-Chambertin at a fraction of the tariff. Drink it now with a brief decant, or cellar a few years to let those twin parcels sing in harmony. Serve it alongside the attached Beef Bourguignon recipe on an upcoming winter night. At this price, you won’t feel guilty doing it on a weekday.