Domaine Soyer – out in the open

There are many domains in Burgundy … some unknown to the international market, and some completely unknown, mainly selling grapes to the big negociants.

When a new generation takes over on these domains it’s quite often that this will lead to a new direction with the production and sale of wines directly from the Domaine.

The rising prices on Burgundian wine do give the new generations the possibility to live from even smaller estates … and give them the motivation to try.

One such estate is Domaine Soyer – a 3,45 ha estate located in the core of Nuits-Saint-Georges.

Julie Soyer is the daughter of Laurent Soyer, who until 2023 was producing the wines at Domaine Soyer … but now has left the wine production to his daughter Julie.

The estate

Domaine Soyer is a small estate with some lovely vineyards near Nuits-Saint-Georges. These are in my view some of the most attractive village terroirs in NSG … and with a new, more tender vigneron there is definitely potential.

• Hautes Côtes de Nuits
• Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Tuyaux
• Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Saints Jacques
• Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Saints Juliens
• Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Herbues

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2024 is the first vintage for Julie, and this is not an easy task with 90% of the vintage lost to mildew.

This leaves the product to blend barrels, as the production of each lieu dit often is too small to fill a barrel.

So in 2024, Julia produced three wines … the Hautes Côtes de Nuits 2024 and two cuvées from NSG.

The first wine is the lovely Bourgogne 2024 – Hautes Cote de Nuits coming form the area of les Dames Hugettes, on the way to. A lovely wine with a vivid freshness and a lovely corerence … a lovely wine to be honest. (Drink from 2025) – Very Good – (87p) –

The next wine is a blend between Herbues and Les Tuyauxu (Cuvée Avenir 2024). The cuvée is elegant and slightly on the slim side, as the year in general. 2024 has many nice qualities … reminding a bit of 2021 … but perhaps slightly more on the charming side, perhaps. (Drink from 2030) – Very Good – (89p) –

Lastly, we have the cuvée made from Aux Saints Jacques and Aux Saints Juliens (Cuvée Héritage 2024)… is a bit bigger and more masculine. Not quite with the same elegance as the Herbues. But a lovely wine. (Drink from 2029) – Very Good – (88p)

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The two cuvees are well made … and will provide good drinking, elegant and made with quite some finesse. The Hautes Côte de Nuits is perhaps a more rounded cuvee … as it’s a usual cuvee made every year.

In general, the wines are a big step up from 2023, where the somewhat more savage winemaking is dominating with punchdown extraction.

In my view, a big step forward … will look forward to the 2025 vintage of Domaine Soyer!