Maison Uliz / Antoine Petitprez

One of the newest stars of the Emile portfolio is Antoine Petitprez and his artisan negoce business Uliz, working out of Pommard.

He is part of a new, dynamic and continuously striving generation in Burgundy, taking the best of tradition, terroir and winemaking and telling an authentic story through their wines. Antoine has been able to make waves through his research programme into the moon’s effect on wines and vines and his subsequent work as an organic and biodynamic consultant for a string of highly regarded clients such as Meo Camuzet, Domaine JJ Confuron, Alain Meunier, Liger Bel Air, Bruno Clavelier and Domaine Dujac. In exchange, he has access to some beautiful plots of vines and a host of other superior fruit contracts.

Antoine’s first vintage was 2009, producing just 1,200 cases from a selection of small plots of old vine fruit that was farmed organically or biodynamically. In the cellar, Antoine uses whole-cluster fermentation with a long maceration period of 3 to 4 weeks with manual punch-downs by foot and little to no sulphur use. All of his reds are made with 100% whole bunch with Antoine’s belief being that to remove the stems is to remove an intrinsic element of the wine, “If you remove the stem, you are removing a marker of the wines’ roots” and will in some ways remove a part of the origins of the wines.

The whites are fermented and go through a long elevage in barrels. All the wines are bottled unfiltered. Whilst there is such a joie de vivre and easy going vibrancy with Antoine, his work is meticulous and diligent, for example, working closely with his tonnellerie - a husband and wife team - personally selecting the wood that is used to make each of his barrels and choosing a more traditional, thicker cut that he feel aids quality and longevity in his wines. 
The Uliz label incorporates Antoine’s thumb print, which evokes the French saying, “la patte de l’homme….du vinificateur sur le vin” which means the identity of the person translated in the wine. This could not be more true of Antoine who is one of the most enjoyable vignerons to taste with and who resonates passion and craftsmanship. This is clear in his wines which are in all sense of the word, living and true to their terroir.