Maison Valette Philippe, Cécile and Baptiste Valette

This family-sized house (15 ha), located in southern Burgundy , in Chaintré, on the border of Mâconnais and Beaujolais , is now managed by Gérard Valette's two sons: Philippe and Baptiste.

The exclusive grape variety is Chardonnay, cultivated without synthetic chemicals since 1992. The defining characteristic of our estate lies in the respect and care we give to our soils and vines throughout the growing season. To produce terroir-driven wines, reflecting the unique character of the place of origin, we work intensively on the soil's microbial life, ensuring the vines thrive. This is achieved through soil aeration via tilling or cover cropping, depending on the plot's geographical and geological features, as well as the year's climatic conditions. From these vines, deeply rooted in their terroir, we obtain balanced grapes that we leave on the vine until they reach phenolic maturity, followed only by tastings of the grapes while still on the vine. Once this maturity is achieved, the harvest begins.

Hand-picked in small 15-kilo crates, the grapes undergo no mechanical processing before being placed in the pneumatic press. Once pressed, the juice flows directly by gravity into a vat, without the addition of sulfur or any other additives. After a rough settling, the wine is transferred to barrels with the lees in our cool cellars to age for a year. Before the next harvest, the wine is racked and then blended for aging for at least a year, and up to twelve years for certain cuvées. Only after this aging period are our wines bottled without fining or filtration.