Vincent Paindavoine: A New Name in Vosne-Romanée

A new producer in Vosne-Romanée doesn’t turn up every month. But more and more is happening there thanks to high prices and demand for wine from the town, and nearby.

Vincent Paindavoine has talent, and it’s supported by family vineyards. While his wines are good and promising, I apologise for the less-than-divine light in the photo above, which speaks to the lack of talent of the Winehog photographer (me).

Mr. Paindavoine

Vincent Paindavoine is an experienced vigneron who has taken over his family’s vineyards while still tending Hospices de Beaune vines in the Cote de Nuits. He works for the Hospices organisation as the chef de culture in vineyards including Clos de la Roche, Mazis Chambertin, and Echezeaux.

So he is both an experienced and a competent guy; the Hospices’ vineyards are well maintained.

That said, no more about Vincent’s daytime job. We’re interested in what he does when he’s on home turf!

Origins

The vineyards originate from Vincent’s uncle, Jean-Louis Raillard, who still makes the Vosne-Romanée village and Vosne Beaux-Monts.

Jean-Louis Raillard, who took over the family estate in 1989, is the current mayor of Vosne-Romanée. He ‘s decided to let his nephew take control of the vineyards over the coming years. He will have full control of the Vosne village and the Beaux-Monts in 2025.

Vincent’s responsibility for the estate’s various appellations began in 2022, and is following the timeline below: 

– 2022: Bourgogne Aligoté Les Paquiers, Bourgogne Chardonnay Les Chassagnes, Coteaux Bourguignons Les Paquiers, and Nuits Saint Georges Les Fleurières

– 2023 : the 2022 vines, with the addition of Gevrey-Chambertin Les Crais

– 2025 : the addition of Vosne-Romanée Village and Vosne Les Beaux Monts. 

For future planning, with the Vosne Romanée village, Vincent plans to create two separate cuvées from 2025: one from Champs Perdrix, and the second a blend of Ravioles and Maizieres.

The style

The wines are made with a gentle, easy hand. They are precise and focused on displaying the fruit; there is only a discreet, balanced oak influence. This is an experienced vigneron who knows the pitfalls and caveats of pinot noir.

As he is easy on the oak and targets delicate wines with pure fruit, good sorting and selection are a must to get clean, vivid grapes.

While production is still low, there is definitely fine potential here. But when Vincent gets the villages and Beaux Monts fully under his control, he’ll have some flagship wines that will only need a little work adjusting the oak.

A first taste

I had the opportunity to sample the 2022s and 2023s from Vincent (and his uncle) after a nice tasting at Domaine Anne Gros.

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The Aligote 2022 comes from the area below the main road in Vosne. It’s quite a generous wine that deserves some time in the glass to fall into place. Slight reduction at the start, but it blows off to show pure, vivid fruit.

(Drink from 2024) – Good+ (86p)- Tasted 30/11/2023

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The second wine was the Bourgogne Chardonnay 2022, from 40-year-old wines. It has nice tension, beautiful salinity, and is cool, with a lovely citrus hint. This is a class act for this level, with ageing potential and some lovely food-pairing possibilities. I got emotional!

(Drink from 2024) – Very Good (87-88p)- Tasted 30/11/2023 –

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The Coteaux Bourguignons 2022 is 100% pinot noir, and so light-footed that it gives an almost white sensation, although the colour is red. It’s delicate and lively, with perfumed fruit notes. An extremely delightful wine for summer and light dishes.

(Drink from 2024) – Very Good (87p)- Tasted 30/11/2023 –

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The Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Fleuriéres 2022 is lovely and light-footed, but with a classic NSG iron/mineral note. Fresh cherries (griottes) spice the fruit. It’s a bit on the dark side, yet still vivid and delicate.

(Drink from 2027) – Very Good (88-89p)- Tasted 30/11/2023 –

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The Vosne-Romanée Village 2022 is a blend of Bas Maizieres, Raviolles, and Champs Perdrix, and it shows deep, lively fruit. It is rich, as the Bas Maizieres sets the scene with its generous fruit. A very good Vosne village with all the qualities of the vintage, it is on the generous side currently, but to be honest this is hardly a valid point of criticism. This used 30% new oak, and was made with Jean-Louis Raillard.

(Drink from 2034) – Very Good (90p)- Tasted 30/11/2023 –

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The Vosne-Romanée Beaux Monts 2022 is still his uncle’s wine, and while it is a good Vosne 1er cru, it lacks the edge of the other cuvees. I do not think it fair to judge the uncle’s wine in this context. The potential is definitely there, and the grapes come from the same quality source (Vincent), but he does not yet have the last word on barrel selection and elevage.