Domaine Michel Gaunoux is considered to be a Burgundian “diamond in the rough”, a vineyard, owned by a single family for more than 140 years. The current winemaker is Alexandre Gaunoux.

Located in Pommard and in Corton.

The top wines of the domaine are Pommard Premier Cru Les Grands Epenots 1999, Pommard Premier Cru Les Rugiens 2018, and Corton-Renardes Grand Cru 2018.

The Pommard Premier Cru Les Grands Epenots 1999 scored 96, Pommard Premier Cru Les Rugiens 2018 scored 95, and Corton-Renardes Grand Cru 2018 scored 94 by the Wine Advocate.

Robert Parker said, that Pommard Premier Cru Les Grands Epenots 1999 “…is a stunning young wine that is still a decade away from full maturity but is already giving the full measure of its potential, exhibiting a superb bouquet of dark chocolate, ripe wild berries, rich soil, summer truffles and grilled ceps. On the palate, it's full-bodied, multidimensional and concentrated, with incredible depth and dimension at the core, framed by rich structuring tannins and concluding with a long and still youthfully chewy finish. This is the most powerful and broadest shouldered wine in this vertical of Grands Epenots, and it's a magical bottle in the making.”

The wine style may be described as velvety, balanced, layered, mineral wine, with a distinctive profile and a long, mineral finish.

The current winemaker is Alexandre Gaunoux, winemaking since 1990. He works along with his sister, Anne Gaunoux. Their father, Michel Gaunoux, used to work in the family vineyard before.

Winemaking is what a family has been doing for more than 143 years. The knowledge has been passed from father to son, which helped to keep the wines on the high-quality level. Modesty is something that remains unchanged in this family, and that’s the reason why these wines are definitely worth attention.

Alexandre Gaunoux once said: “The winemaker needs to submit to the terroir. The more prestigious the terroir, the longer the wine should be able to age and the more strongly the characteristics of that site will shine through. This is a living product that is the result of both terroir and the care implemented in the vineyard. The vinification is merely part of the same process, retaining the inherent characteristics throughout – from the vineyard, to the wine, to its maturation – it’s all part of a whole.”

Neither Alexandre Gaunoux nor his father, Michel Gaunoux has changed the technology. They believe “The winemaker needs to submit to the terroir. The more prestigious the terroir, the longer the wine should be able to age and the more strongly the characteristics of that site will shine through. This is a living product that is the result of both terroir and the care implemented in the vineyard. The vinification is merely part of the same process, retaining the inherent characteristics throughout – from the vineyard, to the wine, to its maturation – it’s all part of a whole.”

The winemaking includes destemming, vinification for up to a month, then putting a small percentage of each wine, of a maximum of 20 percent, into new wood while retaining the rest in a tank until after the malolactic fermentation. After that, the wine is racked to barrel (with the same proportion of new wood) until bottling after 18 months, without fining or filtration.