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Gilles and Fabienne Ballorin are the creators of this 100% biodynamically farmed domain in Morey-Saint-Denis in Burgundy.

Gilles had been working for wine companies for more than 10 years when he decided he needed a change of career that still involved his passion for wine. He left his day job in 2003 and went to learn the craft of wine production in Dijon and Beaune. Gilles had planned to initially work for someone else’s domain when he completed his studies, but while he was still at school, he was offered the chance to buy some vines.

This initial plot was a small vineyard of 0.20 hectares in Chenôve. Soon after, the neighbouring winegrower retired and Gilles was given the opportunity to rent this parcel. Vineyards in and around the village of Marsannay also became available, and so Gilles completed his first vintage in September 2005 (while still in school), with three hectares of vines.

Today the domain’s five hectares stretch along the Côte-de-Nuits, from the initial plot at Chenôve, north of Marsannay, down to Comblanchien, which is south of Nuits-Saint-Georges. The large winery is based in Morey-Saint-Denis, allowing plenty of room for this already well-respected label to grow.

More than half of the domain’s vines fall within the regional appellations of Bourgogne Rouge and Blanc, Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains, and Bourgogne Aligoté.

When acquired, his chardonnay vineyard had only 5,000 vines per hectare, but the law stipulates that there must be 10,000 vines planted per hectare. So the Ballorins had to add rows of vines between the existing ones, planting chardonnay muscaté (a sub-variety of chardonnay), pinot gris, and pinot beurot.

Gilles works hard every day to ensure their soil is healthy—as they believe this is the basis for growing great grapes. He farms biodynamically and took a minimal interventionist approach in the winery. Since the 2010 vintage, Ballorin doesn’t add any sulphur to his wines.