Domaine Grosbois: Vineyards
As indicated Domaine Grosbois sits close to the D21 on the way out to Panzoult, next-door to Domaine de Beauséjour, and not far from Domaine de Pallus. Today Nicolas, Sylvain and team have 20 hectares of vines to look after, largely gathered around the cellars, and split between the communes of Cravant-les-Coteaux and Panzoult. When I first visited the domaine these vines fed into just two principal cuvées, along with a third entry-level blend (which also took fruit from outside the region in frosted vintages) but the portfolio has since expanded considerably, so that there are now more than half a dozen parcels and cuvées of interest.
I will discuss these various parcels and resulting cuvées further down the page though, and will look first at the approach to viticulture here.
The shift to organics began almost as soon as Nicolas Grosbois took over the running of the domaine, with full commitment coming in 2009, followed by certification by Ecocert in 2012. Within a few years Nicolas was experimenting with biodynamics, but I recall he stepped back from signing the domaine over to this system in its entirety, as he found it was not right for his vines. He must have had a change of heart since then, as in more recent years he has returned to biodynamics, and eventually committed the entire domaine to it. The property was certified by Demeter in 2016.
The approach goes far beyond simple biodynamics though, as Nicolas and Sylvain have turned back the clock to return to the polyculture that their parents and grandparents would have been familiar with.
