France · Côte de Beaune

Domaine Génot-Boulanger

Domaine Génot-Boulanger is a Meursault estate farming 22 hectares across 30 Burgundy appellations, with 80 percent white wine, organic certification from 2018, and reds from Volnay, Pommard, Beaune and Corton.

The producer

Founded in Meursault in 1974 by Charles-Henri Génot and Marie Boulanger, Domaine Génot-Boulanger now spans 22 hectares and 30 appellations. Aude Lavollée and Guillaume Lavollée began managing the estate in 2008, when organic conversion started across selected parcels and later expanded to the full estate.

The range is led by white wines, while the red portfolio reaches Volnay, Pommard, Beaune and Corton. Vineyard work comes first, with minimal intervention in the cuverie. Beaune Grèves 1er Cru 2020 comes from one hectare of the domaine's oldest vines, high on a steep, gravelly mid-slope, and finishes with mineral length after a fresh, direct palate.

Known for

White-led Burgundy from 22 hectares across 30 appellations, with Beaune Grèves 1er Cru 2020 as a detailed old-vine red from a steep, gravelly mid-slope parcel.

Notable facts

The story

The 2008 handover

In 2008, Aude Lavollée and Guillaume Lavollée began managing Domaine Génot-Boulanger in Meursault. Organic conversion started selectively that year, then expanded through 2009 as the new management worked across the estate's parcels. Nicolas Ludwig joined as oenologist and technical director, giving the farming change a named cellar counterpart. The transition continued over the following harvests, with vineyard work carrying more weight and cellar intervention kept light. By the 2018 vintage, every wine from the estate carried AB organic certification.

From the atlas

Domaine Génot-Boulanger

At A Glance

Domaine Génot-Boulanger farms 22 hectares across 30 Burgundy appellations from its base in Meursault. The range is 80 percent white wine, with reds from Volnay, Pommard, Beaune and Corton. Its working principle is maximum vineyard work with minimum intervention in the cuverie, a combination that keeps place and harvest handling at the centre of the wines.

The Producer

Founded in Meursault in 1974 by Charles-Henri Génot and Marie Boulanger, Domaine Génot-Boulanger grew into a broad Burgundy estate rather than a single-village operation. François Delaby inherited it in 1998, when the domaine covered 22 hectares and 30 appellations. Aude Lavollée and Guillaume Lavollée began managing the estate in 2008, with Nicolas Ludwig joining as oenologist and technical director.

That sequence is visible in the range. Meursault supplies the address and administrative home, while the bottles carry a much wider set of Burgundy place names. White wines dominate the production, and the red wines provide readings from Volnay, Pommard, Beaune and Corton.

Place

The estate headquarters and tasting room sit at 25 rue de Cîteaux in Meursault, a village in Burgundy's Côte de Beaune. The domaine farms across three Burgundy côtes, so Meursault identifies the home base rather than every bottle's origin. On the label, the appellation name carries the vineyard geography, while the colour and range position indicate whether the wine belongs to the estate's white-led core or its red portfolio.

Soil And Site

Beaune Grèves 1er Cru 2020 gives the clearest physical address in the range. Its one hectare comes from the domaine's oldest vines, high in the southern part of the climat just below Clos St. Anne. The parcel sits mid-slope on gravelly soil at the steepest grade. The wine's direct palate attack and mineral length fit that elevated, sharply sloping setting, with the finish carrying mineral detail instead of heavy fruit weight.

Story

Charles-Henri Génot and Marie Boulanger established the domaine in Meursault in 1974. When François Delaby inherited it in 1998, the estate already held 22 hectares across 30 appellations, giving the family succession a broad vineyard base to manage.

Aude and Guillaume took over in 2008 and began organic conversion selectively that year, expanding the programme through 2009. Nicolas Ludwig joined the same period as oenologist and technical director. By the 2018 vintage, all the wines carried AB organic certification. The estate's present shape therefore links a Meursault foundation to a wide Burgundy spread and a documented change in vineyard work.

Vineyards And Cellar

The domaine places its greatest labour in the vineyards, then keeps the cuverie intervention light. Organic conversion moved from selected parcels in 2008 to the full estate by the 2018 vintage, placing vineyard management ahead of cellar correction.

For the red wines, grapes are harvested by hand, crushed and pressed without added sulfur, then settled for 24 hours. Most of the lees are retained unless the growing season has been difficult, and new oak is kept to a minimum. Those choices leave the wine's handling clear: manual selection before fermentation, lees retained as part of the élevage, and little new wood competing with the appellation on the label.

Wines

The range is geographically broad and white-led. White wines account for 80 percent of production, while the red wines include Volnay, Pommard, Beaune and Corton, with 1.5 hectares of vines around Corton. The appellation names therefore organise the selection more strongly than a single estate-wide style.

The red cellar method gives this part of the range a clear shape: hand-harvested grapes, crushing and pressing without added sulfur, 24-hour settling, substantial lees retention and limited new oak. Beaune Grèves 1er Cru 2020 sits at the detailed end of that range, carrying a one-hectare old-vine source, a high mid-slope parcel and a mineral finish. It is a red wine with direct attack, faint middle-palate tannin and a finish that stays lean in feel.

In The Glass

The 2020 Beaune Grèves opens with a vibrant nose that is complex, deep and mobile, giving the wine movement before the first sip. Fresh flavour arrives through a direct attack, then faint tannin appears across the middle palate without becoming excessive. The finish lengthens through mineral character instead of fruit weight. The combination follows the wine's high, gravelly site and the domaine's limited use of new oak, so the palate stays focused on place and contour.

A Bottle To Understand It

Beaune Grèves 1er Cru 2020 is the right first bottle because it joins the estate's broad appellation approach to one clearly described parcel. It comes from one hectare of the domaine's oldest vines, high in the southern sector of Beaune Grèves just beneath Clos St. Anne, on a steep, gravelly mid-slope. In the glass, it gives a deep, vibrant nose, a fresh direct palate, faint tannin and mineral length. The bottle offers a complete path from named vineyard to cellar handling to finish.

Anecdote

In 2008, Aude and Guillaume began managing Domaine Génot-Boulanger in Meursault. Their arrival coincided with the first selective steps toward organic farming, which expanded across the estate through 2009. Nicolas Ludwig joined as oenologist and technical director, giving the change a named cellar counterpart as the new management settled into the work. The farming programme continued parcel by parcel until the whole estate reached AB certification. From the handover in 2008 to the certification attached to the 2018 vintage, the dates mark a change that can be followed on the estate's bottles. The 2018 vintage was the first with all the wines labelled AB.

Final Word

Domaine Génot-Boulanger is a Meursault-based estate with 22 hectares, 30 appellations and a range weighted toward white wine. Its reds bring together Volnay, Pommard, Beaune and Corton, while Beaune Grèves 1er Cru 2020 offers the most complete bottle study: old vines, steep gravelly ground, direct flavour, faint tannin and mineral length.

Sources

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