The region of Bourgogne is steeped in centuries-old tradition. Many of its domaines have been passed down through generations. Today’s new generation isn’t just looking to the past for guidance but also to the future as they strive to leave their mark on this historic region.
We spoke with two winemakers who grew up on their family domaines and are now working alongside their parents, aiming to eventually take the reins and shape the future of Bourgogne.
Edouard Labet is the sixth generation of winemakers in his family, whose winemaking heritage dates back to 1492. Domaine Pierre Labet originated in the 15th century, and Château de la Tour was established in 1890.
Camille Feuillat-Juillot is the second generation, following in her mother’s footsteps to manage Domaine Feuillat-Juillot.
Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Christine Wise: What is your position at each domaine, and how long have you been working there?
Edouard Labet: I currently manage our two family estates. Château de la Tour is a legacy from my grandmother’s side of the family, and Domaine Pierre Labet honors my grandfather. We make Clos de Vougeot with Château de la Tour. At Pierre Labet, we make villages and premier cru appellations from Meursault all the way north to Gevrey-Chambertin. I came back in 2018, so I’m working a long time with my father, who has been in charge since ‘84.
Camille Feuillat-Juillot: I am the co-managing winemaker at Domaine Feuillat-Juillot. I have been with the estate since 2016 but have been fully dedicated to it since 2019.
CW: Each vintage is different. How did the 2024 growing season go for you? What were its greatest successes?
EL: We managed to keep the vineyards as healthy as possible, but it’s been a crazy season. We kept on running and running. When it comes to the vinification itself, it’s been an interesting vintage. You learn a lot from those vintages. Proper soil management was crucial to ensure we had healthy and high-quality batches in the vats. And so far, the juices are great. It’s a more classic vintage, as we had 15 or 20 years ago. We love those vintages.
CF-J: The 2024 vintage was marked by extremely unpredictable weather: rain, cold, and humidity. We saw the first signs of downy mildew affecting the clusters around flowering, which caused some shatter (poor fruit set) . Being organic (BIO), we had to implement a rigorous treatment schedule and intensive manual work in the vineyards. It was a long and exhausting season for the entire team.
CW: What were some of the challenges of this vintage, and what did it teach you?
CF-J: The main challenges were managing the grass to prevent overgrowth and maintaining regular treatment schedules, which are essential in organic viticulture.
Thanks to the relentless hard work of the entire team, we managed to keep the vineyards in pristine condition, with primarily healthy grapes. We are proud to have successfully navigated such a challenging year in organic viticulture.
EL: We are certified organic, meaning we are very careful about the disease pressure. And yeah, we ended up doing 21 spraying, which is crazy, which is nearly two times the amount of spraying we did in 2020. So it’s been pretty exhausting, mentally and physically.
CW: What did you learn from this vintage that you didn’t know before getting through it?
CF-J: I never thought it could rain so much throughout the entire season!
I’ve learned that rigorous and highly organized work in the vineyards is the key to success.
EL: When you speak with the elders, because this is something you need to do when you are in Bourgogne, listen to the elders and see what they have to say. It feels like it’s a season that they have barely or have never seen before in a way that we’ve had so much rain, a very cool season. A lot of rain started in the winter. We’ve had what we experienced over the last vintages, which is quite a warm winter. It was rainy but warm. We simply had to work very hard.
CW: How do you expect your 2024 vintage to age and taste? What will be its most prominent characteristics?
EL: The wines are vibrant, full of energy, and have very good acidity, of course, so they have a good balance. So overall, we can be happy with the wine.
CF-J: 2024 will be a fresh and vibrant vintage. Compared to the last two vintages, the acidity levels were very high, enhancing the aging potential.
From what we can already taste after alcoholic fermentation, the aromatic profile is very pleasant, and the wines are exceptionally fresh and pure.
They will be very high quality but markedly different from the 2022 vintage (a very sunny year) and the 2023 vintage (a slightly more temperate year but with lower acidity than 2024).
CW: What is it like working with your parents? Did you always expect to work with them at the domaine?
EL: First, I didn’t want to return to the estate and knock at the door. I wanted my father to feel that I was ready to come back. So he called me back. I wish I had ten more years to keep living abroad and experiencing different things, but that’s life. But I was very glad to be back.
From the beginning, he was very open-minded about what we could do and our vision for the future of viticulture and winemaking. The first thing we did together was start the certification process. Even though we have worked organically since 1992, I told him we cannot claim to be organic if we’re not certified because what does it really mean? Is it not 99%? Is it 10%? So, we started the certification process and got certified in 21.
CF-J: I really appreciate the duo my mother and I form. Although we each have our own ideas, we share a common vision. We aspire to continually improve quality in the vineyards and cellar, even if it requires a lot of hard work.
Working alongside her, I have learned so much and developed a true passion for this profession, even though I didn’t initially see myself becoming a winemaker when I was younger!
CW: How much of what you do at the domaine is based on what you learned from your mother or father, and how much is based on different directions you want to take the viticulture to adapt to the changing climate and consumer preferences? Can you elaborate on what you might want to change and what you want to sustain that already exists?
EL: I’m lucky to have my father be so open-minded because you can see in some other estates, the father, the grandfather, they remain. They don’t want to leave. They’re very firmly rooted in the estate. But my father knew. And also, in the winemaking style, the way we make the wine today, I think we wanted to bring a bit more modern touch to the wine, still keeping our DNA, which is the whole bunch, whole cluster vinification that my father started in the eighties. He was really making wines that would be kept, that you could age, very bodied, powerful wines. But we also had to evolve to fit the new consumer’s expectations.
We also wanted to drive the estates in a philosophical, organic, and biodynamic direction. We vinify without sulfur and work with indigenous yeasts. That was the way we wanted to go.
CF-J: The main principles remain unchanged. Winemaking and vineyard work continue to be a solid foundation, with, of course, necessary adjustments made with each vintage.
When I settled in 2021, we converted our entire vineyard (15 hectares) to organic farming. This choice was driven by the fact that my mother last used herbicides in the vineyard in 2009. The soil has been worked for 15 years, and it’s the most challenging task. We invested in an efficient sprayer and switched to 100% contact products. Obtaining organic certification was a natural step, given the work done over the past 15 years in the vineyard. It’s also important to be certified because it ensures true traceability for the consumer.
We also enjoy experimenting with new winemaking techniques to enrich our range: for example, we are fermenting two cuvées 100% in terracotta eggs.
I genuinely want consumers to not associate Bourgogne with an outdated region where wines are inaccessible and wineries no longer welcome visitors, which unfortunately is the case in some Bourgogne appellations. I don’t want to revolutionize everything at the estate: we believe in preserving the existing methods and the techniques I now master in both the vineyard and cellar while adapting them to each vintage’s conditions. We don’t want to mechanize everything; I want to retain as much manual labor as possible, such as hand-harvesting, leaf stripping, and digging when necessary. For me, there’s nothing more qualitative or precise than the human hand working in the vines.
CW: What does the long-term look like for you, your domaine, and the greater region of Bourgogne? What winemaking philosophies and ideas would you like to eventually pass down to the next generation?
EL: I want to respect my father and grandparents’ legacy because I always say I didn’t invent anything. I’m witnessing this legacy we have and hopefully leave it for the next generation. It’s really important for me to respect that, how to keep the love from all the family because there are around 15 grandchildren. I mean 15 heirs, if you want to say. So, how do we ensure everybody feels involved and embraces the family legacy? This is a big thing because I think this is the first step for the family to explore that point. If anyone decides not to be interested anymore and wants to sell, how can we match? So that’s a big issue.
So, one of my concerns is to make sure that everybody’s interested and that I share information. Just an example: next year, we’re going to replant some vines, so I will invite everyone to have a barbecue, and everybody will plant one vine. I mean, that’s what I want: for them to feel engaged, embrace the legacy, and hopefully, as I said, leave it for the next generation.
CF-J: I believe that Bourgogne must remain humble and accessible. We attend many private wine fairs, where we have direct contact with consumers curious to learn about the estate’s history, vineyard, and cellar techniques. When we take the time to explain everything carefully, we draw them into our world, and that naturally encourages them to buy our wine.
The key to the future is to continue working well in the vineyard and staying connected to the land. We must remember that wine is made in the vineyard. When we bring in a beautiful harvest, the winemaking process becomes much easier and remains very natural.
CW: Is there anything you would like to add about the new generation of winemakers in Bourgogne?
CF-J: Overall, the new generation of winemakers in Bourgogne has had the chance to travel the world and gain diverse experiences. They are open-minded, bringing new, more modern ideas that appeal to consumers. They are brave and unafraid of hard work despite the climate challenges of recent vintages.
Today, this profession is increasingly chosen out of passion rather than obligation, as was the case with previous generations. One must be passionate and resilient to be in this profession, which is why it is a choice.
EL: It’s a lot of pressure, and we never know when we do something outside if it’s going to fit or if it’s going to work well. It is a bit of a gamble, but it’s one we are willing to take because the story is beautiful, and we always try to honor where we come from. There are many challenges, but they are exciting at the same time.
