Domaine Devevey

Jean-Yves created his estate in 1992 within the regional appellations of Burgundy.

He based his winery in Demigny in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune and has 7.5 ha of vines between Rully and Beaune. He has farmed all of his land organically since 2003 and has been certified since 2014, as well as experimenting with biodynamics since 2019.

 All of Jean-Yves white wines see a long ageing in barrel on the lees which makes them excellent candidates for low sulphur additions. Overall, the style is on the reductive side - with no bâtonnage and a long time on lees - so the wines need a bit of oxygen to open up.

Jean-Yves created his estate in 1992 within the regional appellations of Burgundy. Despite his father’s pleas for him to have a life away from the land, Jean-Yves had been drawn to the life of winemaking in the late 80s, working for a number of larger Burgundy producers and then spending a pivotal four years with Becky Wasserman and getting to enjoy the richness of international wine.

He based his winery in Demigny in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune and has 7.5 ha of vines between Rully and Beaune. He has farmed all of his land organically since 2003 and has been certified since 2014, as well as experimenting with biodynamics since 2019. His aim is to promote as much biodiversity in each of his parcels as possible and to respect the ecosystem of each vine.

Interestingly, Jean-Yves actually developed a negoce part of his business to create wines from more renowned villages, such as Chassagne, Meursault and Volnay, as a way to help finance his domaine wines. Despite making illustrious wines today, the beginning was definitely a struggle. The 1995 vintage was terrible with frost destroying much of the first buds and the resulting wines being rejected from the Hautes Côtes de Beaune appellation three times. However, he has since abandoned his negoce work to focus on making the wines that he really loves. And indeed, the ugly duckling of his 1995 harvest, which ended up spending 18 months in barrel, turned into one of his most celebrated cuvees - 18 Lunes.

All of Jean-Yves white wines see a long ageing in barrel on the lees which makes them excellent candidates for low sulphur additions and indeed, he has experimented with varying levels of sulphur and has found that 1mg/l offers the most precision, salinity and terroir expression. The wines he makes from the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune cope extremely well with very low or zero sulphur additions, whereas other wines in the range tend to need slightly higher dosages - he’s not exactly sure why this is but puts it down to the soil type and selection of vines. 

Overall, the style is on the reductive side - with no bâtonnage and a long time on lees - so the wines need a bit of oxygen to open up.