Maison Joseph Drouhin

Joseph Drouhin arrived in Beaune from Chablis in 1880 and at the age of twenty-two founded the négociant business that still bears his name. The early house bought grapes and finished wines from local growers, raised them in the historic cellars beneath the center of Beaune, and sold them across France and abroad. His son Maurice Drouhin reshaped the business in the early twentieth century by beginning to buy vineyards outright rather than relying entirely on purchased fruit, and his patient assembly of the Clos des Mouches from 1921 set the pattern for the estate holdings that followed. Robert Drouhin, the third generation, took over in 1957 at the age of twenty-four when his father's health was failing, and gave the house its modern dimension by extending into Chablis, expanding the Grand Cru holdings of the Côte de Nuits, and founding Domaine Drouhin Oregon in 1987. The fourth generation now leads the house as a coordinated team: Frédéric Drouhin serves as president, Philippe Drouhin manages the vineyards and drove the conversion to organic and biodynamic viticulture, Véronique Drouhin is head winemaker for both the Burgundy operation and Domaine Drouhin Oregon, and Laurent Drouhin oversees commercial activity and the North American market. The cellars in Beaune occupy historic buildings in the center of town, including spaces that once belonged to the Dukes of Burgundy and to the kings of France.

• Joseph Drouhin founded the house in Beaune in 1880 at age 22, having come from Chablis
• Maurice Drouhin (second generation) shifted the house from pure négociant to estate owner, beginning the Clos des Mouches assembly in 1921
• Robert Drouhin (third generation) took over in 1957 at age 24, extended holdings into Chablis and the Côte de Nuits, and founded Domaine Drouhin Oregon in 1987
• Fourth generation: Frédéric (president), Philippe (vineyards), Véronique (head winemaker), and Laurent (commercial and North American market)

Philippe Drouhin led the move toward organic farming in the estate vineyards beginning in the late 1980s, eliminating synthetic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers in favor of natural treatments, cover crops, and composting. Biodynamic practice followed from the mid-1990s, with herbal preparations, lunar-calendar timing, and biodynamic compost used across the holdings. The estate filed its application for organic certification in 2006 and achieved full ECOCERT organic certification with the 2009 vintage. The combination of scale and approach is unusual: at roughly 100 hectares across many of the most prestigious sites in Burgundy, Drouhin is among the largest certified organic and biodynamic producers in the region. The same farming philosophy extends to the Chablis estate and to the family's Oregon operation, where Domaine Drouhin Oregon farms sustainably under L.I.V.E. (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) and Salmon-Safe certification. The conversion places the house alongside other leading biodynamic Burgundy estates such as Domaine Leflaive, Domaine des Comtes Lafon, and Domaine Leroy, though Drouhin is notable for completing the transition across a far larger and more geographically diverse vineyard footprint.

• Philippe Drouhin began the organic conversion in the late 1980s, removing synthetic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers
• Biodynamic practice adopted from the mid-1990s across the estate
• Full ECOCERT organic certification achieved with the 2009 vintage (application filed in 2006)
• Among the largest certified organic and biodynamic producers in Burgundy, alongside Leflaive, Comtes Lafon, and Leroy

The estate's roughly 100 hectares span the full length of Burgundy. In Chablis the house operates as Drouhin-Vaudon from the eighteenth-century Moulin de Vaudon, a watermill that straddles the Serein River close to the Grand Cru hill; the Chablis estate covers about 38 hectares from village level to Grand Cru, with holdings in the Grands Crus Bougros, Preuses, Vaudésir, and Les Clos and in several Premier Cru climats including Montée de Tonnerre, Mont de Milieu, and Vaillons. Since the 2008 vintage all of the firm's Chablis has carried the Vaudon name. In the Côte de Nuits and Morey-Saint-Denis the firm produces a series of Grand Crus from small estate parcels and contracted fruit: Musigny, Clos de Vougeot, Grands Échezeaux, Bonnes Mares, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze and Griotte-Chambertin in Gevrey-Chambertin, and Clos de la Roche in Morey-Saint-Denis, alongside a range of village and Premier Cru wines. In the Côte de Beaune the Clos des Mouches is the heart of the estate at roughly 14 hectares, with further Beaune Premier Cru parcels and holdings in Corton-Charlemagne and Volnay, recently expanded by acquisitions in Saint-Romain and Saint-Véran. Across the full range the estate produces no fewer than fourteen Grand Crus, complemented by a broad selection of village and regional bottlings from carefully sourced fruit under the négociant side of the business.

• Drouhin-Vaudon in Chablis: about 38 hectares around the eighteenth-century Moulin de Vaudon on the Serein River; Grand Crus Bougros, Preuses, Vaudésir, and Les Clos
• Côte de Nuits and Morey Grand Crus (estate parcels and contracted fruit): Musigny, Clos de Vougeot, Grands Échezeaux, Bonnes Mares, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Griotte-Chambertin, and Clos de la Roche
• Côte de Beaune anchor: roughly 14 hectares of Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Mouches, plus Corton-Charlemagne and Volnay
• Estate produces no fewer than fourteen Grand Crus in all; recently expanded into Saint-Romain and Saint-Véran

Two holdings define the contemporary identity of the house. The first is the Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Mouches, at the southern end of the Beaune appellation. The name comes from the bees once kept there, the mouches a miel or honey flies of local dialect, rather than from common flies. Maurice Drouhin bought his first plot in 1921 and continued patiently for years, eventually assembling 41 separate parcels from 8 different proprietors into a single holding of roughly 14 hectares, the largest in the climat; he considered Clos des Mouches the finest terroir in Beaune. The site is planted about half Chardonnay and half Pinot Noir, and both the white and red bottlings are benchmarks for the Beaune Premier Cru level. The second defining holding is in fact a partnership rather than ownership. The Montrachet vineyard of the Marquis de Laguiche, the largest single holding in Le Montrachet at roughly two hectares, has belonged to the de Laguiche family since the eighteenth century; since 1947 Drouhin has managed, vinified, aged, and exclusively distributed the wine. It carries the Marquis de Laguiche name on the label and is made entirely at Drouhin under the family's winemaking direction, giving the house a place among the producers of Le Montrachet alongside Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Domaine Leflaive, and Domaine Ramonet.

• Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Mouches: Maurice Drouhin began buying in 1921 and assembled roughly 14 hectares from 41 parcels and 8 proprietors, the largest holding in the climat
• Clos des Mouches is planted about half Chardonnay and half Pinot Noir; both Blanc and Rouge are benchmark Beaune Premier Cru wines
• Marquis de Laguiche Montrachet: owned by the de Laguiche family since the eighteenth century; Drouhin has managed, vinified, and exclusively distributed it since 1947 but does not own the vines
• The roughly two-hectare Laguiche parcel is the largest single holding in Le Montrachet; the label carries the Laguiche name

Robert Drouhin had followed Oregon Pinot Noir closely since the late 1970s, in large part because of two tastings that became part of wine history. At the 1979 Gault-Millau Wine Olympics in Paris, David Lett's Eyrie Vineyards South Block Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley finished among the top ten alongside major Burgundies. Robert organized a rematch in 1980, and the Eyrie wine finished second, narrowly behind Drouhin's own 1959 Chambolle-Musigny. The results convinced him that the Dundee Hills had the climate and soils for world-class Pinot Noir. In 1987 he bought a 225-acre property in the Dundee Hills, near The Eyrie Vineyards, and founded Domaine Drouhin Oregon, the first Oregon estate owned and operated by a Burgundy house. The first vintage was made in 1988 from purchased grapes, and in 1989 the family built a four-story gravity-flow winery that remains a landmark of Oregon winery design. Robert named his daughter Véronique winemaker for the project and Philippe took on viticulture. The Oregon operation later expanded to include the Roserock vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills, and Véronique continues to direct winemaking for both the Burgundy and Oregon estates. The venture has shaped how cool-climate Pinot Noir producers around the world think about applying Burgundian discipline to new terroirs.

• Robert Drouhin attended the 1979 and 1980 Paris tastings that compared Oregon Pinot Noir with Burgundy; the results convinced him of Oregon's potential
• Founded Domaine Drouhin Oregon in 1987 on a 225-acre parcel in the Dundee Hills; the first Burgundy-owned estate in Oregon
• First vintage 1988 from purchased grapes; four-story gravity-flow winery built in 1989
• Véronique Drouhin makes the wine for both Burgundy and Oregon; the operation later added the Roserock vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills