Jean Tardy

About Jean Tardy

Talk about a gift that keeps giving. Our friend Stephen Pannell once gave us some assorted wines to say thanks for a favour. In the mix were a couple of bottles from name we didn’t know: Domaine Jean Tardy & Fils. We drank them and they were a revelation. In 1966, Jean Tardy started working vines in Nuits-St-Georges, Vosne-Romanée and Clos Vougeot under a crop-sharing arrangement with Domaine Méo-Camuzet. From the 1980s, he started slowly but surely to build his estate, acquiring land in the likes of Chambolle-Musigny, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne-Romanée and Gevrey-Chambertin over the next 30 years. Son Guillaume took charge of the winemaking in 2001. With only five hectares all up, these traditional, precise and elegant wines are domaine-bottled in tiny quantities. No wonder it took a little help from our friends to track down Jean Tardy & Fils. But now we’re in on the secret, it’s clear why the privileged few see this as one of the finest producers on the Côte d’Or. I like the style here: rich, balanced and pure, plump and intensely flavoured. Clive Coates MW, The Wines of Burgundy

About Guillaume Tardy

Guillaume Tardy took the winemaking reins from his father Jean in 2001, a year after working vintage with Stephen Pannell’s parents at Picardy in WA. He continues to work under the watchful eye of Jean, the two of them doing everything to ensure healthy fruit and excellent ripeness. That means short pruning, de-budding and strict green harvest to keep yields down. The winemaking is gentle in the extreme. The fruit is 100% destemmed and the whole berries given a seven-day cold soak to extract colour and flavour. Fermentation takes place with infrequent pigeage to keep the elegance and finesse of the fruit. The wines are gently pressed to barrel and matured on lees, receiving their first racking at final blending. With only five hectares all up, these traditional, precise and elegant wines are domain-bottled in tiny quantities.