Every great wine tells a story. Some stories are written in the soil, tracing the slow, silent work of the seasons. Others are written in the human heart, born from chance encounters, deep friendships, and the bitter pang of loss. For us at burgundywine.com, the story of Château Cary Potet is a deeply personal one. It is a tale that stretches back to our very origins, winding through the grand tasting halls of Burgundy, into a decade of silence, and finally leading us back to a hidden valley of stone and soul.
An Encounter with True Burgundy Aristocracy
Our journey with Cary Potet began years ago at one of our first visits to the Grands Jours de Bourgogne. Amidst the sea of winemakers, we met Charles du Besset. To know Charles was to understand the romantic, slightly faded grandeur of old Burgundy. He was a man from another era, a piece of “tatty aristocracy” living in a beautiful, time-worn château in the rolling hills of the southern Côte Chalonnaise.
We fell instantly in love with his wines. His Montagnys were beautiful, luscious, and full of life. But we fell equally in love with the character himself. Charles was the real deal. In his presence, we learned profound lessons about wine and, indeed, about life. He was a patient mentor, though he wasn’t above growing a bit short with our youthful impetuosity and our famously eager American ways.
Then, the music stopped. One day, we lost Charles.
With his passing, our beloved Cary Potet Montagny seemingly dissolved into thin air. We always held onto the hope that someone would step in to take the reins of the domaine, allowing us to rekindle our relationship with the property. But a decade marched on. The vines kept growing, yet from the château, we heard nothing but silence.
A Serendipitous Reappearance
The universe works in mysterious ways, and sometimes the ghost of a great wine reappears when you least expect it. Years after Charles’s passing, during a routine trip through France, a flash of recognition caught our eye. Standing before us was the unmistakable Cary Potet label. It was exactly as we had known it all those years ago, completely unchanged, save for a brand-new vintage tagged onto its collarette.
It felt like seeing an old friend rise from the past. We grabbed the bottle, turned it over, and squinted at the fine print. There it was, the missing link: Produced by Château de Chamilly.
Intrigued by this twist of fate, we immediately contacted the Desfontaine family at Château de Chamilly. They solved the mystery for us. They had indeed taken over the Cary Potet production, integrating the precious vineyards into their estate and selling the wine under their own label. But the bottle we stumbled upon was the result of a lingering piece of history. Charles du Besset had struck a specific supply contract years before his death. Because that legal agreement remained valid, Château de Chamilly continued to bottle a small, exclusive allocation under the original Château Cary Potet label simply to fulfill that historic promise.
For the past few years, we have proudly sold these exceptional Montagny wines under the Château de Chamilly banner. But today, we are filled with a deep sense of nostalgia and pure joy. Through a beautiful stroke of serendipity, the Cary Potet label officially returns to the burgundywine.com wine list.
Château de Chamilly: Built on Foundations of Truth
To understand the current custodians of these vines, one must travel twenty minutes south of Beaune to the northern tip of the Côte Chalonnaise. Here, tucked away in a verdant, hidden valley, sits Château de Chamilly. Built in the 17th century on the rugged foundations of a 14th-century fortified farm, the property possesses an atmosphere of ancient permanence.
The Desfontaine family purchased the château and its surrounding farmland at the dawn of the 19th century. Today, they can trace their winemaking heritage back at least twelve generations. The family motto is etched into everything they do: Ex Nihilo Nihil: Nothing comes from nothing.
Today, brothers Xavier and Arnaud work alongside their mother, Véronique, to craft exquisite wines primarily from Mercurey and Montagny. They are fiercely attached to these old stones, the land, and the grueling, beautiful work required to maintain them.
The Philosophy of Instinct and Terroir
When you speak to Xavier and Arnaud about their farming, they don’t hide behind trendy buzzwords. Their primary goal is simple: to limit vineyard treatments as much as possible. They purposefully bypass official organic certifications. To them, the subject of nature is too vast and nuanced to be confined by a codified system that might impede their daily work. They prefer to trust their own instincts.
They believe that every single vineyard block is a distinct living entity. Their job in the cellar is to keep things simple, clean, and healthy, allowing the true notion of terroir to speak for itself.
- The Harvest: Hand-harvested with rigorous sorting before grapes ever touch the press.
- White Wine Aging: Raised for 18 long months. They spend 12 months in French oak, followed by 6 months en masse (in stainless steel tanks) to allow the wine to seamlessly meld together.
- The Oak Program: New oak percentages are decided purely by the perceived richness of the specific vintage.
The result? Pinot Noirs that are wonderfully fine and elegant, and Chardonnays that are breathtakingly pure and frank.
The Return of the Premier Crus
To celebrate the return of this historic label, we are highlighting two spectacular Château Cary Potet Premier Cru masterclasses that perfectly embody the soul, grit, and romance of the Côte Chalonnaise:
Montagny 1er Cru ‘Les Burnins’: This is a wine of immense scale and regal complexity. It beautifully captures the richer side of the vintage, showing incredible depth and a powerful backbone that carries its elegant oak integration flawlessly. It has a broad, texture-driven palate that demands your attention, a true monument to old-school Burgundy craftsmanship.
Montagny 1er Cru ‘Les Jardins’: A stark, dazzling contrast, this wine is pure sensory poetry. Bright, floral, and stunningly vibrant, it offers a breathtakingly frank expression of Chardonnay. It dances across the palate with crystalline minerality and uplifting energy, making it an absolute joy to drink now or cellar for a sunny afternoon.
Welcome back, Cary Potet. We missed you.