GENERAL INFORMATION

 

Producer: Sophie and Matthieu Woillez

Country: France
Region: Burgundy - Vézelay
Founded: 2009
Annual Production: 50,000 bottles
Farming: Sustainable 
Website: www.lacroixmontjoie.com

 

The Burgundy town of Vézelay has a history of viticulture that dates back to the Gallo-Roman times of the late first and early second centuries. The remains of a Roman temple to Bacchus became the foundation for a Benedictine monastery that was founded in 860 CE, which eventually became the engine of the local wine industry.

 

Awarded AOC status in 1985, Vézelay was initially given a Bourgogne appellation and later earned the right to add Vézelay to the label. The appellation occupies the hillsides of the villages of Asquins, Saint Père, Tharoiseau, and Vézelay.

 

Domaine la Croix Montjoie was created in 2009 and is named after the crossroads between Vézelay and Tharoiseau. The ten-hectare vineyard is located in Tharoiseau and is planted to Chardonnay. The south-southeast facing slopes and stony clay and limestone soil provides the ideal conditions for grapes to reach their full potential.

 

Cultivation and vinification are managed with great respect for Burgundian traditions. The approach is to strive to respect the environment in order to produce wines of quality and typicity. The domaine is committed to wine growing practices that minimize intervention to allow the terroir to express itself. In the same vein, winemaking is done with the goal of allowing the fruit to assert its natural characteristics and to reflect the soils and climate of Vézelay.

 

Lutte Raisonée is practiced in the vineyards, with manual labor of the soil, only organic treatments used, no insecticides, no fungicides, and manual work on the vines and harvest of the grapes. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations occur under temperature control in vats or barrels, according to the type of wine. Vinification is in mainly older barrels with minimal intervention.​