Domaine Colinot

The Colinot family has cultivated vines in Irancy across roughly ten generations, anchoring the small Yonne village as one of its founding viticultural families. The lineage carries an unusual historical pedigree: the family descends from Jacques-Germain Soufflot, the Irancy-born architect of the Panthéon in Paris, an Enlightenment-era figure who returned to the village throughout his life and whose memory is preserved across the commune. The Soufflot cuvée in the estate's range commemorates this ancestor directly. The modern Domaine Colinot took shape under Anita and Jean-Pierre Colinot across the late 20th century, building the parcellary bottling structure around named Irancy climats that became the contemporary Colinot signature. The vineyard parcels themselves have a longer record: they were cultivated by the monks of Saint-Germain Abbey in Auxerre until the French Revolution before passing to families like the Colinots.

• Colinot family cultivating vines in Irancy across roughly ten generations, one of the village's founding viticultural families
• Family descends from Jacques-Germain Soufflot, the Irancy-born architect of the Panthéon in Paris, commemorated in the estate's Soufflot cuvée
• Modern Domaine Colinot took shape under Anita and Jean-Pierre Colinot across the late 20th century, with the parcellary bottling structure as the contemporary signature
• Irancy vineyard parcels cultivated by the monks of Saint-Germain Abbey in Auxerre until the French Revolution before passing to local families

Stéphanie Colinot returned to the family domain in 2001 at age 23, after completing two BTS diplomas at Beaune in viticulture-oenology and in wine and spirits commerce. She joined Anita and Jean-Pierre to make the wines and progressively shaped the cellar direction over more than fifteen vintages at the family estate. In 2017, after sixteen vintages alongside her parents, she founded her own separate independent estate (Domaine Stéphanie Colinot) covering roughly 3.7 hectares of Irancy and surrounding parcels, where she works under her own label as both vigneronne and négociante. The family Domaine Anita, Jean-Pierre et Stéphanie Colinot continues as the primary domaine bottling the named-climat range, and Stéphanie remains formally associated with it; her separate estate runs alongside the family operation rather than as a successor to it.

• Stéphanie returned to the family domain in 2001 at age 23 after two BTS diplomas at Beaune in viticulture-oenology and wine commerce
• Worked at the family estate for sixteen vintages alongside Anita and Jean-Pierre, progressively shaping the cellar direction
• Founded her own separate independent estate (Domaine Stéphanie Colinot) in 2017, covering roughly 3.7 hectares, working as both vigneronne and négociante
• Family Domaine Anita, Jean-Pierre et Stéphanie Colinot continues as the primary domaine bottling the named-climat range, with Stéphanie's separate estate running alongside rather than replacing it

Irancy is the only Burgundy AOC that explicitly permits the blending of César with Pinot Noir, with the cahier des charges allowing up to 10 percent César in the blend. César is an indigenous Yonne variety with deep historical record and a strong colour and tannin profile that complements Pinot Noir's lighter frame. The Colinot estate has been one of the most consistent advocates for César's role in Irancy across decades. The thirteen hectares cover the named Irancy climats: Palotte (the appellation's most prestigious climat, a 5.6-hectare south-facing parcel divided across seventeen producers, characterized as supple and fruity), Les Mazelots (chalk slope above the village, more structured with bright red fruit and a Pinot-César blend), Côte du Moutier (a named climat producing the most aromatic Colinot cuvée), Veaupessiot, Les Petits Creux, Les Cailles (named for the surface stones), and Boudardes. The Soufflot cuvée, named for the architect ancestor, blends parcels with a higher César proportion.

• Irancy is the only Burgundy AOC that explicitly permits blending of César with Pinot Noir (up to 10 percent César)
• Named Irancy climats in the Colinot range: Palotte, Les Mazelots, Côte du Moutier, Veaupessiot, Les Petits Creux, Les Cailles, Boudardes
• Palotte is the appellation's most prestigious climat (5.6 hectares, divided across seventeen producers, south-facing)
• The Soufflot cuvée, named for the Colinot family's Panthéon-architect ancestor, blends parcels with a higher César proportion

The cellar approach respects the traditional Burgundian method adapted for the Pinot-César blend. Grapes are harvested manually with meticulous selection of the clusters. Pinot Noir is typically destemmed (with whole-cluster proportion retained on selected vintages); César is destemmed throughout. Indigenous-yeast primary fermentation runs in traditional cuves with daily manual punch-downs (pigeage manuel), a hallmark of the traditional Irancy approach that the estate maintains. The wines are pressed off and transferred to Burgundy barrels for malolactic fermentation and élevage, with the full vinification cycle taking approximately one year from harvest to bottling. New-oak proportions are kept low to preserve varietal character rather than impose structure. Bottling is mostly done without filtration. The signature Colinot Irancy profile carries bright red-fruit aromatics, a distinct mineral cut from the Kimmeridgian marls and surface stones of the slopes, and the structural backbone that the César contribution adds to the Pinot Noir base.

• Manual harvest with meticulous selection; Pinot Noir typically destemmed (whole-cluster proportion on selected vintages); César destemmed throughout
• Indigenous-yeast primary fermentation in traditional cuves with daily manual punch-downs (pigeage manuel), a hallmark of the traditional Irancy approach
• Malolactic fermentation and élevage in Burgundy barrels with low new-oak proportions; full vinification cycle approximately one year
• Bottling mostly without filtration; signature profile carries bright red fruit, Kimmeridgian-marl mineral cut, and the César structural backbone