Following the acquisition in January 2017 of Domaine Bonneau du Martray by US businessman Stanley Kroenke, the dynamic new management team comprises Armand de Maigret and Thibault Jacquet, previously of Laurent-Perrier in Asia.

In addition to Bonneau du Martray, Armand de Maigret oversees Mr Kroenke’s Californian estates, which include Screaming Eagle, Jonata and The Hilt. Thibault Jacquet is based at the domaine and importantly, the core technical team remains unchanged under the new ownership. Fabien Esthor has been vineyard manager since 2003 and Emmanuel Hautus winemaker since 2011.

It was announced in May 2018 that 2.8 hectares of the estate’s 9.5 hectares of Corton-Charlemagne were to be leased to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. This move –surely an excellent one for both domaines – took effect from November 2018 and means that as of the 2019 vintage, Bonneau du Martray’s production of Corton-Charlemagne will be reduced by 25-30%. Both estates are biodynamic and both are managed impeccably, in the case of Bonneau du Martray thanks to the legacy of long-time owner Jean- Charles le Bault de la Morinière.

Another development this year is that every bottle leaving the domaine will now have a chip embedded in its front label which can be scanned by smartphones in order to access information about it. This will be particularly relevant to authentication, as well as providing a wealth of technical detail and the date of release from the domaine’s cellars. Innovation is alive and well in Burgundy.