Edouard Delaunay

The original Delaunay business was founded in Dijon in 1893 by the great-grandfather of Laurent de Launay, who has revived the firm based in part in Nuits-St-Georges and in part at his family home in L’Etang-Vergy in the Hautes Côtes. He operates as a négociant, concentrating more on red wines (up to 75%), buying grapes rather than wine.

Laurent Delaunay joined his father in 1989, three years before the company was sold to Boisset. In 1995 he created instead the company Bader Clement, specializing in wines from the South of France, before returning to Burgundy in 2003 and concentrating on distribution rather than production. Finally, in 2017, Laurent was able to buy back the Delaunay name and take back control of the buildings. Most wines are made from purchased grapes, harvested by the Delaunay team. These are supplemented by a few purchases of wine, especially for grands crus.

The white grapes are pressed without crushing, settled for 24 hours, then sent to barrel to ferment with natural yeasts, assisted by a little lees stirring early on. There are no fixed rules for the reds, much depends on the quality of the stems. There is a short cool maceration, natural yeasts, typically two and a half weeks, punching down more at the end than the start.