Caroline Lestime rocked the Burgundian status quo.

And not with her wine style, as you would think, but by being a woman winemaker in traditional Burgundy. Like many Burgundian winemakers, Caroline is the child of a vigneron. Pushing past the often-sceptical local attitude towards her as an ambitious, forward-thinking woman producing in Chassagne-Montrachet, she’s spent years managing her father’s domaine and making the classically styled wines.

While still winemaking at Domaine Jean-Noel Gagnard, Caroline also began Maison Caroline Lestime in 2016, in order to explore her own creativity and develop a separate identity. Buying in grapes from a variety of small parcels, Caroline then vinifies each parcel separately as part of her terroir-based philosophy. In the cellar, she barrel-ferments her whites and ages them on lees with very little battonage. The reds undergo oak ageing for up to 18 months in her cool underground cellars, resulting in wonderfully fruity yet earthy wines.