Henri de Villamont Volnay 2008 (12 x 750mL), Bourgogne, France.

The Lord of Villamont, a gentleman originally from Brittany was a knight of the Order of Jerusalem and also a great traveler in the XVI and XVII centuries. The tale of his travels is concealed in three books named Les Voyages du Seigneur de Villamont edited in 1607.

The famous writer Chateaubriand himself will refer to the Chevalier in his book Itinéraire de Paris à Jerusalem. The Lord of Villamont would have then settled in Burgundy, in Savigny-lès-Beaune, a village which vineyards used to be partly owned by the Order between 1256 and 1655.

His tale having seduced us, we decided a long time ago to revive his memory by linking his name to our wines, which travel throughout the world similarly to the Chevalier de Villamont. In the end of the XIX century, Léonce Bocquet, then the sole owner of the famous Clos de Vougeot, ambitioned to build modern winemaking and wine-ageing facilities.

The site of Savigny-lès-Beaune was identified as an ideal location and the architect Albert Suisse was appointed to lead the construction which lasted from 1880 to 1888. The outcome was quite spectacular with 4000 covered square meters, six meters high vaults, a capacity of 4000 barrels (of 228 liters each) and a heating system to initiate the malolactic fermentation. The Schenk Group finally acquired it in 1964 together with diverse vineyards in the Côte d’Or.