After our visit at P. Pacalet's cellar, we ate for lunch at a restaurant in Bouze les Beaune . Very good place to eat , go stop there if you visit the region . It is right hand along the road when you enter Bouze driving from Beaune .
Our appointment with Vincent Dancer in Chassagne-Montrachet was at 6 pm later that day (end of april), so we spent time in the vineyards on the way, then in Beaune, before slowly taking the road south of 
Beaune and Meursault to his winery .
When we parked in front of the estate and ringed the door bell, nobody answered . Less than 5 minutes later though, Vincent Dancer arrived at full speed on top of his tractor . He obviously has been doing some plowing in the vineyard . Grass is growing fast these days . We are happy to see him, but his dog seems even more happy . I tried a close-up with the dog but he barks at me and seems afraid of this alien metal thing I repeatedly try to position near his head...
Vincent Dancer is only 33 year old and works on a 5 hectare vineyard over Beaune, Pommard, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet Appellations zones . White/red, about half each . He created his estate in 1995, with the first harvest in 1996 . His philosophy is to be as little interventionist as possible at the vinification stage, with a lot of care in the vineyard , plowing, strict de-budding . This young vigneron impressed the wine world , as over the course of only two vinifications, he demonstrated his ability to make delicate wines with pure aromas and flavors . His production varied from the low 2003 ( heat wave ) : 40 casks , to a 100 casks in 2004 .
After we introduced each other, we soon head for the underground cellar, actually two vaulted cellar rooms connected by a narrow passage .
Low hanging lamps give a beautiful and discreet lighting on the casks . Clear gravel on the floor . Near the passage , a cask, used as a table , with empty glasses , bottle, and uncorker from a previous tasting ( picture upper left ). With a wine thief , he proceeds to taking samples from the casks ; we will have a glimpse of his 2004 wines in the making :
scattered over a number of plots : Generic red Burgundy ( Pinot Noir of course ), generic white ( Chardonnay ), a little of Bourgogne Aligoté, Pommard (1 hectare) and Beaune 1er Cru.
Even when working for Sabre, he puts his personal imprint on the wine, and the labels say "Domaine Sabre - Philippe Pacalet". The chai is on the street level, with a large wooden double door opening on the street through a high porch. Underneath is the cellar, composed of several connected rooms. He shows us around. On the street level, an horizontal press, resin vats, cement vats, a 40 hectoliter tronconic cask. Nicolas Luquet, himself a caviste ( pictured lower right ), helps him today and rolls down empty casks to the cellar. Otherwise, he works alone, and has all the work in the vineyard done by a viticultural service company that sends workers on demand for the different tasks along the year. He says in France everything pushes for zero employees, like the dissuasive taxes adding up the paycheck (that doubles easily the cost for the employer), strict work regulations, limited hours. And new layers of costs and regulations have kept piling up since 30 years ...
His viticulture philosophy is close to biodynamic principles, but he prefers not to follow fixed rules or integrate any official certification organization.
__1 First wine we taste comes from a resin vat. Generic red Burgundy. Bourgogne Rouge 2004. Vinified for Domaine Sabre. Plots for this wine are near Pommard, but out of the Pommard Appellation zone.
__2 White. Blanc Aligoté 2004 . For this one, we went down to the underground cellar, a cool vaulted cellar with several connected rooms. In the past , there was no seperation between the cellars along the street. But the next building is the local head office of the Income Tax Administration (Tresor Public) and it is funny to see the cement-block wall closing off the access to the adjacent cellar ... Nose for this wine just taken from a cask : Fresh and fruity. Simple wine. Will be racked in 2-3 weeks .
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