Pierre Duroché is not your average winemaker, as our wine expert discovers.
It might surprise you to know that one of the most in-demand Burgundy domaines (as wine estates are known in that region) is owned and run by a champion rock climber: Pierre Duroché of Domaine Duroché from the village of Gevrey-Chambertin in the Côte de Nuits. Burgundy is full of eccentric vignerons (winemakers), as well as people who have enjoyed successful previous careers (such as, Jean-Marc Roulot, the actor and owner of famed white wine domaine, Domaine Jean-Marc Roulot). So perhaps we should not be surprised to see a champion rock climber running up and down the vines either.
Hot Property
As a passionate wine collector of Burgundy wines, Domaine Duroché came onto my radar around 2015. I had heard some gossip that there was a new guy making top quality wine in the small village of Gevrey-Chambertin. Eventually, thanks to my persistence, I managed to gain an audience at the estate with Pierre and his charming wife, Marianne. Having tasted the wines – stylistically focused on elegance and purity – I realised that I had to own them. Ever since, I have come back to the Domaine at every opportunity, and have seen a continual improvement in wine quality as the youthful, Pierre, learns his trade.
Born in 1982, Pierre and his wife, Marianne, make no less than 18 wines (or cuvées, as they are called) from an estate covering a mere 8.6 hectares, recently adding a new grand cru (a tiny 0.099 hectare plot) to their repertoire, Charmes-Chambertin. (They also make a few wines from buying grapes, known as négociant wines.) Indeed, to add to the workload, for the 2020 vintage, Pierre makes 8 cuvées of one barrel or less (i.e. less than 300 bottles). Included is his tiny production of Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru, where he makes 85 litres (less than 115 bottles) in a mini-barrel specially made by Burgundy’s 30 year-old wizkid cooper, Pierre Cavin at Tonnellerie Cavin. Indeed, the Griotte is the smallest declared single cuvée in the whole Burgundy region, in part because very few vignerons would even attempt to make a wine from such little juice.
Aiming High
Rock climbing has been in Pierre’s blood from a very young age. His parents noticed his fascination with climbing when they took him on family holidays to Zermatt, Switzerland and found him continually wandering off to climb things, causing his parents no end of stress! At age 12, his best friend, Bertrand Dugat of Domaine Claude Dugat, introduced him to the sport. Bertrand was one of the best climbers in the Burgundy region, and Pierre naturally wanted to be better. Honing his skills, he rose through the ranks, and was then called up to the French national team to compete in the World Cup of Rock Climbing in 2004. Of the five members of the French squad, due to his inability to escape the family vineyards, he was the only amateur to compete – all of the rest were professionals. Competing at World Cups in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008, he usually ranked in the top 10-25 competitors individually, at a time when the French were the team to beat. Unfortunately, due to the pressures of work, he gave up competing at this level in 2013, although he still dabbles, especially on holidays; this summer, he was rock climbing with the family in Squamish, Canada.
Conquering the Peaks
One claim to fame is how he conquered a particularly impassable route in the Cormot, a famed climbing area in the Burgundy region. One of the routes, graded 9A in difficulty, had never been traversed. (Difficulty levels are graded from 3A all the way up to 9B, which is the maximum.) In 2007, Pierre achieved what nobody else had previously done and nobody else has done since despite the attempts of hundreds of climbers. Chapeau, Monsieur Duroché!
Partner in Life and Wine
He has a lot to be thankful for when it comes to rock climbing: he met his wife, Marianne, at a rock climbing gym in 2007, as she had come along with her brother, another passionate rock climber, who now runs Domaine Jacques Cacheux down the road in Vosne-Romanée. (Whoever knew there were so many rock climbers in the Côte de Nuits?!) After they married in 2014, Marianne and Pierre became partners in life and at work. They run the estate together, and Marianne is involved in all aspects of the work, whether in the vineyards, cellar or office. They have even managed to build a small négociant business by buying grapes from her brother in Vosne, to make a Vosne-Romanée village and an Echezeaux Grand Cru wine. According to Pierre, Marianne is generally always right when it comes to difficult decisions – something a lot of us married men have come to appreciate about our wives! The couple have two children: Albane, a daughter, who is 6 and Edgar, a son, who is 4; keeping them out of playing in the vats or on the tractor is a perennial problem.
It’s in the Blood
Pierre’s journey in the wine world started from youth, growing up on the estate run by his father and mother (who passed away from cancer in May 2022). The estate has been in the family for five generations, since 1906. His father tended to sell the grapes to négociants rather than bottle the wines under his own label. Having grown up around the vines, it was natural for Pierre to study viticulture. His course consisted of one-third class study and two-thirds apprenticeship. A career away from rock climbing was a necessity in order to continue with the family business.
Taking Control
In 2003, his father asked him to come in as a partner. Pierre promptly arranged a bank loan and bought 50% of the estate. From the start, his father was more interested in the administration side of the business, leaving the vineyard and cellar work to his young passionate son. Pierre’s influence led to them bottling more and more wine under their own Domaine Duroché label, until 2013, when they stopped selling grapes to négociants entirely. In 2015, Pierre bought out the remaining 50% of the estate from his father, who is now retired.
Principally self-taught, Pierre’s moment of enlightenment came in 2005, when he and his best friend, Bertrand Dugat, opened two incredible bottles together: Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru 1995 from Bertrand’s family estate and a Chambertin Grand Cru from Domaine Denis Mortet. It was at that moment, Pierre realised how good wine could be, and he made it his mission to try to make wines of this level from his family estate.
Quality Driven
To reach these heights, he made the decision early on to cut the amount of new oak barrels for aging – which he felt negatively affected the elegance of the wines – as well to avoid fining and filtration entirely. In the vineyard, starting with the Cazetiers vineyard in 2014, he began to increase the size of the canopy, focusing on reducing the crop yield and increasing homogeneity through more precise pruning and de-buding work; as a result, even in the difficult 2021 vintage, there was no need for Pierre to sort the grapes. Depending on the vineyard, he has experimented with vine training techniques, such as the time-consuming Echalas system, used by Charles Lachaux at Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux and Jean-Yves Bizot at Domaine Bizot, two of Burgundy’s greatest winemakers. In his very old vineyards, where there are already a lot of smaller grapes that ripen well, there is less need to experiment with such techniques, as they would take too much energy from the old vines. Pierre’s philosophy is to be flexible and adopt the best techniques for each vineyard, rather than take a one-size fits all approach.
Pleasure Seeker
Elegance, purity, precision and pleasure are what Pierre is aiming for in his wines. Indeed, on a recent trip together with our wives, Pierre told me about how his friend, Klaus-Peter Keller (the famed German winemaker), who had come to the Domaine to taste, commented that “when you have a sip, you always want to have another one” – proof that Pierre is achieving his goals. To confirm the theory, when arranging a trip to Château Latour for Pierre and I, Jean Garandeau, the Sales & Marketing Director at Latour, expressed his excitement to see Pierre; I asked him if he liked Pierre’s wines, to which he responded: “What’s not to like about the Duroché wines?” (Of course, no homegrown Bordelais would have ever made that comment, but Garandeau is originally from Burgundy.)
Great Terroir
Pierre’s job is helped considerably by the vineyards he owns, which include four Grand Crus: Griotte-Chambertin, Latricières-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin and the famed Chambertin Clos de Bèze. The vine age across the estate is seventy years, but in Chambertin Clos de Bèze, it is over a hundred years old, which explains why he made a 100-year anniversary wine in 2020 in memory of his grand-father: the Hommage à Philippe. Old vines, although less productive, make very concentrated berries, which help create depth and complexity in the wines. Pierre thinks he has more millerandage in his vineyards than most estates due to the age of his vines – these are the small, shot berries that produce potently concentrated juice.
Arsenal Above All
What I like most about Pierre is that he’s an Arsenal fan. At my suggestion, he completely renovated a new cellar with an Arsenal crest logo embedded into the marble. It has become known as the ‘Arsenal Cellar’, perhaps the only example of its type in the world of wine!
As a mad, passionate Gooner (as us Arsenal fans are known), there’s an instant connection with anyone who ‘bleeds red and white’. Pierre’s love of the world’s greatest football team came from watching Frenchman and legendary Arsenal player, Thierry Henry, play some of the most breathtaking football ever seen in the English Premiership. Our joint love of Arsenal, therefore, created an instant brotherly bond between us, despite the fact that Pierre – as he himself admits – is shy and reserved, and takes a little time to open up. Marianne, on the other hand, is naturally friendly, and her smile can disarm even the sternest of customers.
Not Enough Wine
Although he only made 20,000 bottles across the estate in 2020, he sells to 40 countries. As one of the superstars of Burgundy, Pierre isn’t short of buyers for his wines. The issue is having enough wine to sell – a familiar retort from all the top winemakers in the region. Nonetheless, despite having precious little wine, I asked Pierre to open the best 3 wines he has ever made so we could taste them together.
Pierre’s Top 3 Wines
We started with the 2019 Chambertin Clos de Bèze. (He would have opened the 2020, which he thinks is better, but it’s still too young.) Despite being one of the top Grand Cru in the Côte de Nuits, he used no new oak on this wine. The tannins were super silky, the red fruit character fresh and juicy, filling the mouth and ending with a long sweet finish. The wine had all the characteristics I recognise when tasting Pierre’s Chambertin Clos de Bèze: elegance, concentration without being heavy, and a touch of sweet spice. At 13% ABV, the wine has wonderful balance without the power being muted.
The 2016 Chambertin Clos de Bèze is from a vintage which suits Pierre’s winemaking style. Even purer than the 2019, with a little bit more sweet spice, the crushed raspberry nose is very complex and the sweet long finish is typical of all Pierre’s wines. A class act.
Finally, the pièce de résistance, the 2016 Griotte-Chambertin from the tiny 85 litre Cavin barrel. Simply a wow wine: darker, denser and more mature than the Chambertin Clos de Bèze, the wine has a lot more power and concentration while maintaining an elegance and purity that defies explanation. Made from vines planted in 1923, using the whole bunch method (i.e. the grapes have not been de-stemmed), vinifying such a small quantity of grapes is an art form in itself. I have to admit that I couldn’t stop tasting the wine until I had finished the bottle, such was the pleasure I derived from it. Shame, he didn’t have another bottle with him!
Best 3 Red Wines Pierre has tasted – but not made
1953 Château Cos d’Estournel
1952 Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Richebourg Grand Cru
1976 Domaine Dujac, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Best White Wine Pierre has tasted
1962 Joseph Drouhin Marquis de Laguiche, Montrachet Grand Cru
Pierre’s Death-Row Last Request:
1982 Château Lafleur in Magnum
Pierre’s Desert Island Choices
Book: L’Axe du Loup by Sylvain Tesson
Film: Les Tontons flingueurs
Music: Alain Souchon & The Doors
Luxuries: Swiss Army Knife
Past-time: Rock climbing & gardening
The 2025 edition of the Golden Vines awards will take place in Miami between November 7-9. liquidicons.com
