producer profile

<p>La Petite Empreinte, or &ldquo;the little footprint&rdquo; is an <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> that truly lives up to its name. Founded by M&eacute;lissa Bazin with the help of her husband Romain De Moor in 2020, together the&nbsp;couple work a whopping two <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary>&nbsp;of vines from A to Z, producing very limited quantities of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pinot Noir" title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary> and&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sauvignon Blanc" title="927">Sauvignon Blanc</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p> <p>After meeting and falling in love during respective apprenticeships in the <glossary term="Jura" title="560">Jura</glossary> (Julien Labet for M&eacute;lissa and Jean-Fran&ccedil;ois Ganevat for Romain), the couple agreed to move back to <glossary term="Burgundy" title="212">Burgundy</glossary> so Romain could join his parents Alice and Olivier at their eponymous <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chablis" title="262">Chablis</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Always set on doing her own thing, M&eacute;lissa set forth to find some <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> to work on her own. Through a program designed to help young producers find land to start their own&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Estate" title="427">estates</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> she was able start renting <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plots</glossary> in 2020, eventually purchasing the vines in 2022.</p> <p>The first and largest&nbsp;sector consists of two <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plots</glossary> totaling one&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> all planted in 1990. Located in <glossary term="Saint-Bris" title="979">Saint-Bris</glossary>&nbsp;on an idyllic <glossary term="Coteau" title="345">coteau</glossary> of <glossary term="Kimmeridgian" title="565">Kimmeridgian</glossary> <glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary> overlooking the Yonne river, <glossary term="Pinot Noir" title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary> is the main variety planted here, along with 10 <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Two wines are produced from this land: a <glossary term="Pinot Noir" title="805">Pinot</glossary> called &ldquo;Mas a&nbsp;Tierra&rdquo; and a <glossary term="Magnum" title="617">magnum</glossary> only&nbsp;<glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuv&eacute;e</glossary> of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> For&nbsp;the latter, a single <glossary term="Barrel" title="142">barrel</glossary> is produced each&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;</p> <p>The second <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcel</glossary> consists of&nbsp;40 <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pinot Noir" title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> from which they produce the <glossary term="Cuvée" title="363">cuv&eacute;e</glossary> &ldquo;Tapis Rouge&rdquo;. The vines here are <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposed</glossary> full South and were planted in 1978 on a steep <glossary term="Coteau" title="345">coteau</glossary> of <glossary term="Portlandian" title="1398">Portlandian</glossary> <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Limestone" title="596">limestone</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In addition, a yet-to-be released <glossary term="Saint-Bris" title="979">Saint-Bris</glossary> is produced from two small&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plots</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the first&nbsp;30 years old and <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposed</glossary> West, the other planted in 1959 on white&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Exposition" title="430">exposed</glossary> North and very low producing due&nbsp;to&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Court Noué" title="1250">court nou&eacute;</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p> <p>Bazin and De Moor, in addition to raising two young daughters and Romain working full time with his parents, do 100% of the work and currently have no employees. M&eacute;lissa is responsable for the manual work in the vines &nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span>(<glossary term="Pruning" title="834">pruning</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Green Harvest" title="507">green harvest</glossary>&hellip;) with Romain doing the tractor work. The vines are <glossary term="Organic Certification" title="260">certified organic</glossary> or in <glossary term="Conversion" title="332">conversion</glossary> towards&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Organic Certification" title="260">certification</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <glossary term="Cover Crop" title="1255">Cover crops</glossary> have been incorporated since 2021 and, like Alice and Olivier in Chablis, they have been planting fruit trees in the vines to encourage <glossary term="Biodiversity" title="1162">biodiversity</glossary> and break up the <glossary term="Monoculture" title="671">monoculture</glossary> of <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary>/create stronger rhizome networks in the soil.</p> <p>In the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the couple work off instinct and communally make all <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinification</glossary> decisions together. <glossary term="Maceration" title="610">Maceration</glossary> lengths, <glossary term="Pigeage/Punchdown" title="795">pigeages</glossary>/<glossary term="Remontage/Pumping Over" title="850">remontages</glossary> (or lack thereof) have varied each&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but the wines all <glossary term="Fermentation" title="441">ferment</glossary> and <glossary term="Aging" title="74">age</glossary> in <glossary term="Old Oak" title="739">old barrels</glossary> with no <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">S02</glossary> is added at any point. Everything is currently <glossary term="Vinification" title="1104">vinified</glossary> in the De Moor&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> but M&eacute;lissa and Romain are in the process constructing their own, in all likelihood for the 2025&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>