Owner

Chanzy Group

Winemaker

Max Blondelle

Appellation

Burgundy

Distribution Area

Delaware, National, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania

Varieties

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir

Vineyard

Maison Pagnotta owns vineyards in the AOC classified areas of Bouzeron, Mercurey, Maranges, Rully, and Santenay.

Farming

Sustainable

About Pagnotta

Domain Pagnotta was created in the 1970s.

Originally the operating buildings were located in Rully and the estate owned only the white and red Rully appellation. The area of the estate at this period did not exceed 6 hectares of vines. The domaine took its current name in 1989, following the takeover by the family Pagnotta, an Italian immigrants’ family who arrived in Burgundy during the 60s. Being a hard worker, with a solid knowledge in agriculture and horticulture, Mr Pagnotta first became Vineyard Manager of one of the largest wine estate in Burgundy – Chateau de Santenay. He quit Chateau de Santenay in 1989 to settle his own domaine with his son.

In 1990, driven by the desire to develop the surrounding appellations, the family decided to move and to settle new premises at the crossroads between the Côte Chalonnaise and the Côte de Beaune, in Chagny. The premises reached 700 m² of winemaking facility and 500 m² of cellars for the barrel ageing.

***Development of the vineyards***

The love of Burgundy soil and the very substantial investments of the family over the last 27 years have allowed to develop and diversify the appellations produced at the estate.

This development allowed to reach an area of 35 hectares on the following appellations: Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Bourgogne Chardonnay, Bouzeron “Les Corcelles”, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune white and red, Rully “Les Cailloux” white and “Clos de Bellecroix” red, Mercurey “Clos La Bussière Monopole” white, “Bois Cassien” white and red, and “La Bussière”red, Santenay “Les Cornières” red, Givry 1er cru “Champ Lalots” red, Maranges 1er cru “La Fussière” red, Mercurey 1er cru “Clos Voyens” red.

***Nowadays***

Domaine Pagnotta earned a reputation for high standard wines coming from very well located single-vineyards, capturing the attention of a group of wine lovers who are used to investing in Premium markets, and whose first acquisition in Burgundy was 33 hectares of vines in Côte Chalonnaise in 2013.

Therefore, having no descendants to pursue the family adventure, Mr Pagnotta’s son took the decision in 2017 to transfer the ownership of the historic family estate to the group Chanzy. It was time to think about the best way to ensure that the domaine could face the future while remaining faithful to its heritage.

With Domaine Pagnotta, the new owners realized that they can produce expressive single-vineyard wines with an identity, a personality. They dedicated their team to this new project and asked them to discover the soul of this land to create a brand-new range, built to provide emotions to wine lovers.

Since then, modern methods and production system, centering on a crop management that respects the environment and quality, have been put in place, while maintaining a traditional approach to winemaking. The vineyards are farmed in a sustainable way, soon to be certified HVE 3 (Haut Valeur Environmentale)

Under the leadership of this new management, the domaine also developed a négociant business focused on selling high end appellations as a complement of the domaine appellations: Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, Echezeaux Grand Cru, Meursault…

The whole range of wines is now sold under “Maison Pagnotta,” and the current director of the estate is Xavier Badinand.

Additional Resources