Wines
Summary
Domaine Lucien Muzard is based in Santenay and has 16 ha of vineyards divided amongst Santenay, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny Montrachet and Pommard. The family can trace its roots back to 1645, but it wasn’t until the two sons, Claude and Herve took over the domaine from Lucien in 1995. This began bottling at the estate rather than selling to négociants.
Today 85% of the production is red wine with Chardonnay plantings in several key premier cru parcels in Santenay. Santenay borders Chassagne Montrachet to the north adjoining notable premier cru’s such as Morgeots, Les Embazees and Les Baudines, so there is potential for white wines with much limestone in Santenay, where the Cote d'Ór almost ends.
Reducing vine yields and adoption of some modern wine-making techniques has resulted in Muzards spotlessly pure, great value Burgundy wines. The brothers modernized the winery and introduced old and new methods, and in 2005 they began managing the vineyard organically and ultimately gained certification for biodynamic farming in 2011.
In the winery, more whole bunches are included, typically about a third, while there are no additions of yeast or enzymes. In tandem with the move to more whole-bunch, the extraction regime has moved away from punch-downs towards a gentler remontage (pump-over) approach, while elevage is moving towards both larger oak and a subtler new-oak influence. The reds are bottled unfined and only a coarse filtration if required.
