Domaine d'Edouard, Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre, Pinot Noir, "Les Collines de Vaux"

Driving southeast from Paris toward Beaune—the epicenter of great Burgundy—you pass just west of Chablis, through the Côtes d’Auxerre, roughly halfway there. Most people keep driving. They shouldn’t. This is one of those quiet, historically overlooked corners of Burgundy that never chased fame, never played the marketing game—and is now, somewhat unexpectedly, producing some of the most impeccably balanced Pinot Noir in the region. From biodynamically farmed old vines and fermented with whole clusters, this wine delivers clarity and lift that most bottles at this price simply can’t touch. Imagine the intense Pinot perfume and transparency of a great Morey-Saint-Denis—think the youthful, high-toned nose of Domaine Dujac—then sharpen the edges with a little more cut and acidity on the palate. It’s alive. I honestly can’t remember another moment in my career when a ~$30 retail red Burgundy delivered this kind of aromatic complexity, precision, and sheer pleasure without asking for compromise. As Burgundy continues to warm, these once-marginal fringe zones are suddenly hitting a sweet spot, while more famous addresses sometimes drift toward excess. When obsessive growers farm old vines from special parcels with intent, and back it up with disciplined Burgundian winemaking—you get wines like this. Don’t just take my word for it. This is a sure bet, the kind of bottle I’d pour blind for the most stubborn Burgundy traditionalist just to watch their eyebrows lift. Wines like this are what make me excited about Burgundy again—where the price-to-quality ratio doesn’t just make sense, it feels like you’re getting away with something.

To understand why, it helps to look at Burgundy from north to south. Chablis anchors the region’s northern edge with fossil-rich Kimmeridgian limestone—soils prized for tension, salinity, and precision. Just to the west, the Côtes d’Auxerre shares that same geological backbone: limestone and marl, a cool continental climate, steady airflow, and vineyard exposures that naturally preserve freshness. Historically, Auxerre was a major wine-trading hub long before the Côte d’Or rose to prominence, but phylloxera, war, and shifting markets pushed the region into obscurity. Today, that history is being quietly rewritten. These slopes offer exactly what Pinot Noir needs in a warming climate: cool winds, moderate ripeness, and true transparency of site. In the right hands, the wines deliver intense red-fruited perfume, purity, floral lift, and mineral tension—less about power or sweet fruit, more about balance. This is Burgundy without the noise, and increasingly, without the heat. Exactly what I want.

Those hands belong to Édouard Lepesme, the founder of Domaine d’Édouard. His path to winemaking wasn’t linear—and that’s part of what makes these wines compelling. Lepesme began his career on the commercial side of the wine world, working in Burgundy and Champagne before deciding he needed to be in the vineyards and cellar, not behind a desk. In 2011, he shifted gears completely, training in viticulture and winemaking alongside some of Burgundy’s most exacting growers, including Alice and Olivier de Moor in Chablis. That experience shaped his philosophy: precision farming, restraint in the cellar, and absolute fidelity to site. In 2014, Lepesme acquired organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards in Vaux-Auxerre, a historic hillside planted in the 1960s on classic limestone soils closely related to those of Chablis. Much of his fruit had previously been sold to top domaines—including the de Moors themselves—an endorsement that speaks volumes about the quality of his farming.

In the cellar, Lepesme works with a light but deliberate hand. Farming is biodynamic, harvests are manual, fermentations are native, sulfur is used sparingly, and extraction is kept gentle. Pinot Noir is fermented with whole clusters to preserve aromatic lift, freshness, and structural finesse, then aged primarily in older barrels so oak never masks the wine’s voice. The 2022 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre Pinot Noir “Les Collines de Vaux” opens with lifted aromas of wild strawberry, mixed red berries, damp rose petal, forest floor, wild herbs, and subtle spice, all underpinned by a cool, stony mineral core. On the palate, it’s vibrant and finely etched—pure, delicious red fruit framed by balanced acidity and supple, mineral-backed tannins that give shape without excess weight. Alcohol remains moderate, the finish is clean and persistent, and the overall impression is one of clarity and poise rather than power. Serve it slightly cool, pair it with roast chicken, duck, or mushrooms, and remind yourself how compelling Burgundy can still be—when you know where to look.