Domaine Goisot

The Goisot family has cultivated vines at Saint-Bris-le-Vineux across many generations, with the earliest documented family vintner traced to Germain Goisot in the late 16th century. Saint-Bris-le-Vineux sits in the Yonne département at the heart of the Grand Auxerrois sub-region, north-east of Auxerre. The commune is the only Burgundy appellation that anchors Sauvignon Blanc as its principal variety, with the Saint-Bris AOC promoted from VDQS status in January 2003 after decades of working under the VDQS classification. The surrounding regional AOCs (Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre, Bourgogne Aligoté, Irancy) cover Chardonnay, Aligoté, and Pinot Noir. The Goisot estate covers parcels across all four appellation lines. Jean-Hugues Goisot joined the family operation in 1974 at age 16, after his father suffered a first heart attack. He and his wife Ghislaine took over the estate together in 1979 and spent the following decades renovating the historic vaulted cellars (which date from the 11th to 13th centuries) and rebuilding the estate from a typical Yonne family operation into a quality-focused biodynamic domaine.

• Goisot family viticulture at Saint-Bris-le-Vineux traces to Germain Goisot in the late 16th century, the earliest documented family vintner
• Saint-Bris AOC promoted from VDQS in January 2003; the only Burgundy appellation anchoring Sauvignon Blanc as its principal variety
• Jean-Hugues joined the family operation in 1974 at age 16 after his father's first heart attack; took over with Ghislaine in 1979
• Spent the following decades renovating the historic 11th- to 13th-century vaulted cellars and rebuilding the estate into a quality-focused biodynamic domaine

The shift to biological agriculture began in the early 1990s. The full estate completed Ecocert organic certification in 2001, one of the earliest in the Grand Auxerrois. Demeter biodynamic certification followed in 2005, coinciding with the arrival of Jean-Hugues and Ghislaine's son Guilhem and his wife Marie at the estate. The 2005 certification placed Goisot among the earliest certified-biodynamic estates in Burgundy and the earliest in the Yonne. The conversion was driven by a combination of soil-health concerns specific to the chalky Kimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone slopes of the Grand Auxerrois and by Jean-Hugues's commitment to working the vines with minimal chemical inputs. The estate's biodynamic protocols include the standard horn preparations (500 horn manure, 501 horn silica) and the seasonal compost preparations, with attention to lunar timing for treatments and pruning. The Grand Auxerrois climate (cooler and damper than the Côte d'Or) makes biodynamic work more challenging than further south; Goisot's success has been cited as a credibility argument for biodynamic farming in the northern Burgundy frame. Ghislaine retired from the estate in 2021; Guilhem now signs the wines alongside Jean-Hugues.

• Shift to biological agriculture began in the early 1990s; full Ecocert organic certification in 2001, one of the earliest in the Grand Auxerrois
• Demeter biodynamic certification in 2005, coinciding with the arrival of son Guilhem and his wife Marie at the estate
• Among the earliest certified-biodynamic estates in Burgundy and the earliest in the Yonne; cited as a credibility argument for biodynamic work in the cooler northern frame
• Ghislaine retired from the estate in 2021; Guilhem now signs the wines alongside Jean-Hugues under the current domaine name

The estate is best known for single-parcel work across Saint-Bris and the adjacent regional AOCs. The thirty hectares are roughly split among Aligoté (the largest holding at about 10 hectares), Sauvignon Blanc (around 7 hectares), Chardonnay (around 6.5 hectares), Pinot Noir (around 6.5 hectares), and Sauvignon Gris / Fié Gris (around 2 hectares). Saint-Bris cuvées include Corps de Garde (the entry-level Sauvignon Blanc bottling, named for an old guard post), Le Court Vit (selected old-vine Sauvignon Blanc), Gondonne (single-parcel cuvée defined by an equilibrium of saline power, with notes of cinnamon, white fruits, and flint), and Gueules de Loup (named for a local wildflower; Sauvignon Blanc from a specific south-facing parcel). The Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre range includes Biaumont (Chardonnay), Gondonne Chardonnay, Gueurots (the apex Chardonnay parcel), and Garance (named for the madder plant; another Chardonnay parcel). The Bourgogne Aligoté range includes a regional-tier Aligoté and the cuvée Le Mont Berthelot (single-parcel old-vine Aligoté). Irancy bottlings include a regional Irancy and a named-cru parcel bottling. The single-parcel discipline gives the estate the broadest parcel-by-parcel range in the Grand Auxerrois.

• Roughly thirty hectares split across Aligoté (around 10 ha, the largest holding), Sauvignon Blanc (around 7 ha), Chardonnay (around 6.5 ha), Pinot Noir (around 6.5 ha), and Sauvignon Gris (around 2 ha)
• Saint-Bris cuvées: Corps de Garde (entry-level), Le Court Vit (selected old-vine), Gondonne, Gueules de Loup (south-facing parcel)
• Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre cuvées: Biaumont, Gondonne (Chardonnay), Gueurots (apex Chardonnay parcel), Garance
• Bourgogne Aligoté: regional cuvée and Le Mont Berthelot (single-parcel old-vine); Irancy: regional and named-cru parcel bottlings

The cellar approach mirrors what apex Côte de Beaune white-wine producers apply to Chardonnay, adapted for the Sauvignon Blanc range and Pinot Noir parcels. Whole bunches are pressed slowly; juice settles briefly before transfer to barrel. Indigenous-yeast primary fermentations run in barrel for all whites, with malolactic fermentation also taking place in barrel where the vintage profile justifies. New-oak proportions are kept modest, typically under 20 percent for whites and 25 to 30 percent for the apex Irancy bottlings. Élevage runs twelve to twenty months on lees, with the longest aging reserved for Gueurots Chardonnay and Le Court Vit Sauvignon. The wines are bottled with no fining and light filtration only where strictly necessary. Sulfur additions are kept low. The signature Goisot profile across the Sauvignon Blanc range is unusually structured and cellar-worthy for the variety, while the Chardonnay range carries Kimmeridgian-marker citrus and chalk-mineral character typical of the Grand Auxerrois. The estate's stated philosophy is that wine is made in the vineyard rather than the cellar, an extension of the biodynamic discipline applied to the parcellary range.

• Whole-bunch slow pressing followed by brief settling and barrel fermentation for all whites
• Indigenous-yeast primary and malolactic fermentations in barrel; new oak under 20 percent for whites, 25 to 30 percent for apex Irancy bottlings
• Twelve to twenty months élevage on lees; longest aging reserved for Gueurots Chardonnay and Le Court Vit Sauvignon
• Low sulfur additions; no fining; light filtration only where strictly necessary; stated philosophy that wine is made in the vineyard rather than the cellar