Michel Prunier et Fille

These Pruniers – and there are several – are to be found on the main road through Auxey-Duresses in a flower-filled courtyard, with a cosy tasting room decorated by medals won and foreign bottles drunk. Being of small stature, the Pruniers – father, Michel and daughter, Estelle – have no trouble with the perilously low lintel over the entrance to their cellars! Estelle joined her father in 2004 after her wine studies and work experience in Australia and Bordeaux. Michel himself studied at the viticultural college at Avize in the Champagne region and still has a love of making hand-riddled Crémant de Bourgogne. Michel has grown the estate to 12 ha from only 2 ha in 1986 and Estelle represents the fifth generation to make wine here. They have vineyard holdings – all worked sustainably – in Beaune, Meursault, Volnay, Pommard, Chorey-lès-Beaune but their pride and joy is their premier cru, Clos du Val, in Auxey-Duresses. The grapes from Bas de Duresses, Grands Champs and Climat du Val, are made into one 1er cru. “A wine should frankly express its terroir and vintage,” says Michel, whose wines also have a remarkable capacity to age.