Domaine Charlopin Tissier
The Marsannay appellation starts on the southern edge of Dijon. For most of the last century it made rosé, grew Gamay and Aligoté, and came away with no Premier Cru and no Grand Cru when Burgundy's vineyards were ranked. Wine lovers headed further down the road to Gevrey-Chambertin. Marsannay became the village people drove through.
Yann Charlopin and Justine Tissier stopped there.
Two wine students
They met while studying viticulture. Yann finished his studies in Beaune and then went a long way from home to keep learning, making wine in Tasmania before returning to France to work harvests in Sancerre and Chablis. When he came back to Burgundy, he went to work in his father's cellar. His father is Philippe Charlopin, one of the best-known names in Gevrey-Chambertin. Learning your trade under a name like that teaches you a lot, and it also makes you wonder what your own wine would taste like.
Justine's family had vines in Marsannay, and that was the opening.
1.08 hectares
When a chance came to buy some of the Tissier family's vines, Yann already had a clear idea of the wine he wanted to make. Jean-Marie Fourrier, a Gevrey-Chambertin grower known for wines that are elegant and never forced, had been his mentor. Fourrier encouraged him to go out on his own.
In 2013 Yann and Justine started a domaine with 1.08 hectares and both their surnames on the label. They then bought David Clark's small domaine in Morey-Saint-Denis, old cellar included, and that is where they still make the wine. Today they farm a little over four hectares, from Marsannay up to Vosne-Romanée and Aloxe-Corton.
All of it is worked by hand, and they farm organically without bothering with certification. In the cellar the Pinot Noir is fully destemmed, soaked cold and left to ferment on its own native yeast. Then it rests on fine lees for 12 to 24 months in 228-litre barrels, only 20 to 30% of them new. Very little gets added, and very little gets moved. In 2021 the Wine Advocate's William Kelley wrote that the wines were "rich, gourmand and characterful, patinated by their élevage."
The village everyone skipped is getting a second look
Marsannay is changing. Warmer vintages give its Pinot Noir more weight than it used to have. Two of its climats, Les Longeroies and Clos du Roy, are now being considered for Premier Cru. As prices in the famous villages keep climbing, buyers have started looking north again.
Yann and Justine were already in Marsannay before most of that attention arrived. It is where their story began, and it is where both bottles on our shelf come from.
The two bottles on our shelf
Marsannay 2022 is their village wine. It opens with cherry and wild strawberry, then earth and something like dried rose petals. It is fresh and easy to like, and it pours well with dinner on a weeknight.
La Montagne" Marsannay 2022 comes from a 0.46-hectare parcel at the very top of the appellation. It faces south, with a forest beside it that keeps the vines cool at the end of the day. After 16 months in barrel it smells of wild strawberry, dark cherry, dried herbs and stone, and it feels juicy and silky on the palate. A sommelier who pours their wines advises giving them air and time, so open it a little before dinner.
Why it made sense to us
Axel and Cédric started Glouglou in 2016 because they couldn't stop tasting wine and talking about it. They know what it means to start small and back a hunch. A couple who met at wine school, started with a hectare of family vines and stayed in a village most people drove past is a story we wanted to pour.
For restaurants and hotels, Marsannay is also a practical choice. It gives you Côte de Nuits Pinot Noir from a careful grower without the price of the big names on your list. For everyone else, it makes a good dinner.
Both bottles are in our shop now, and we deliver anywhere in Vietnam within 24 hours. Message us if you want them on your list or on your table this week.
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