Domaine Emmanuel Rouget, Cros Parantoux, 2020

In 1976, a tractor mechanic from Cotes de Nuits in Burgundy was offered a job by his wine-producing uncle who almost immediately engendered enormous interest and enthusiasm for wine production in his nephew. The uncle was the legendary Henri Jayer, and the name of the young tractor mechanic was Emmanuel Rouget. Henri Jayer is one of the most excellent wine producers that Burgundy has ever produced and is widely recognised for his visions and innovation which have brought Burgundy to where it is today. With this prominent mentor, Emmanuel Rouget was trained in 1985 to start his own business - with Jayer’s tradition and craftmanship as a model.

Jayer himself had two daughters, but their lack of interest in wine production meant that Rouget was the most obvious successor. The prime step in this was taken in the mid-1980s where Rouget leased some of Jayer’s vines for production. At the time of Jayer’s final retirement in 2001, all of his fields and plots were transferred to Rouget who was the head of Domaine Emmanuel Rouget’s operations. In 2011, Rouget handed over managing operations to his two sons who now produce wine from the domain with the same respect for the craft as was inherited by their father from Henri Jayer.

Domaine Emmanuel Rouget is, despite the domain’s relatively short life, already has a special status among the world’s wine connoisseurs and even with a wide range of different wines from Village to Grand Cru classification, the big headline is "Cros Parantoux". Cros Parantoux is the name of the almost mythical field, where Henri Jayer’s most excellent wines have had their origin.