Côte de Nuits, Burgundy
Domaine Champignon
8 vintages since 2019. 4 of 5 blocks open for commission.
"Five named climats across Morey-Saint-Denis and Chambolle. Old vines, low yields, no new oak until the barrel selection in year two."
Winemaker
Marie Laurent
Philosophy
The land speaks; the winemaker translates.
Marie Laurent is the fourth generation on her family's land in Morey-Saint-Denis. She trained in Beaune, worked a vintage at a biodynamic estate in Oregon, and came home in 2017 to take over the domaine from her father. She farms eleven plots across three villages.
Pinot Noir is a translator. It doesn't add its own voice to the soil — it just tells you what the soil is saying. My job is to stay out of the way. I pick early. I use whole cluster when the stems are ripe. I don't chaptalize. I don't filter unless a wine asks for it.
Burgundy is a long conversation with ground that has been farmed for a thousand years. What I know, my grandmother knew, and her grandmother before her. When I open a block for commission, I'm asking you to sit in that conversation for five years. You'll start to hear the difference between a limestone parcel and one with more clay. You'll hear how 2024 doesn't sound like 2023.
I don't believe in a singular 'great' vintage. Every year the vines tell us something. A wet year teaches us where our drainage fails. A hot year teaches us which parcels can still make elegant wine. Bad years are the most instructive. That's what you're buying into — not guaranteed quality, but guaranteed access to the year as it unfolds.
Choose a plot
A schematic of the vineyard. Each rectangle is a named block. Click one to see the details — vine count, varietal, soil, exposure, yield, price.
Schematic, not to scale. Relative positions reflect the vineyard map but block sizes are stylized for clarity.
Available
Les Gruenchers
- Vine count
- 320 vines
- Varietal
- Pinot Noir, Pommard clone
- Soil
- Limestone over clay, southeast-facing, mid-slope
- Exposure
- Morning sun, afternoon shade by 2pm
- Planted
- 1987
- Typical yield
- 1.2 tons — roughly 100 cases at Cellarmaster tier
- Price
- $12,000/year
- Commitment
- 3 or 5 years
The arc
What three to five years looks like.
The relationship changes year over year. You don't show up in year five the way you showed up in year one.
You visit for harvest. You meet the crew. You taste the verijuice, the post-ferment sample, the first barrel pulls. You're still learning the shape of your block — what the drainage looks like, where the morning sun lands, how the fruit tastes two weeks before the pick.
The fine print
What the commitment covers — and what it doesn't.
What's included
Sample progression
Verijuice, post-ferment sample, quarterly barrel pulls, and finished wine. Three to four times the volume of a Crew Vintner tier.
Voting on major decisions
Pick timing, oak regime, blend trials, bottling date. The winemaker makes the call — you're in the room.
Custom label with your name
On the back label of every bottle from your block, every vintage, for the length of your commitment.
Annual allocation
Typical: 12–36 bottles depending on plot size and commitment tier.
Harvest visit invitation
Open invitation to be on the ground the day of the pick, every vintage you commit to.
Priority access to the winery's library
Older vintages, small-lot releases, and back-library allocations before they're offered elsewhere.
Direct line to the winemaker
Text, call, email. Not a concierge, not a customer service queue. The winemaker.
What's not
Land ownership
You do not own the vines. The vineyard farms, harvests, and makes the wine. A Block Commission is a long-term relationship, not a real estate transaction.
Farming labor
You are not expected to work the vineyard. You're welcome to visit, prune, help pick — but none of it is required and none of it is assumed.
Risk-free returns
Vintages vary. A cold, wet year means less wine. A hot year means riper wine. We don't make up the difference with fruit from other blocks. That's wine.
Pricing
How it's structured.
Commitment
3 or 5 years
Three-year commitments are the standard. Five-year commitments are offered on every block and get preferential renewal, older library access, and longer relationships with the winemaker. Some older or rarer plots are five-year only.
Payment cadence
Annual or monthly
Pay for the full year up front, or split into twelve monthly payments. Monthly cadence carries a small service fee. First payment clears before any farming decisions are shared.
What sets the price
Plot and varietal
Price scales with plot size, varietal desirability, vine age, and expected yield. An old-vine parcel on a steep slope costs more than a flat parcel with young vines — regardless of how much wine it makes.
Example at Domaine Champignon
Les Gruenchers (320 vines, Pinot Noir): $12,000/year × 5 years = $60,000 total
All-in, including samples, allocation, harvest visits, and custom label. Shipping within the continental US included; international pickup at the winery or flat-fee ship.
Next step
Schedule a consultation.
Block Commissions involve contracts and real money. Before you commit, we want to talk. Tell us which plot interests you — we'll set up a call with the winemaker.
Schedule a consultationA real conversation with Marie Laurent, not a form response.