Jean Grivot

Etienne and his wife Marielle (Patrick Bize's sister) took over from his father in 1990, making him the 5th generation of Grivots to make wine in Vosne-Romanée. In the 1930s it was one of the first domaines to bottle and sell the wines themselves.

The Grivots go back a long way in Burgundy. Indeed two previous generations of Grivots have married girls of the same surname. Jean Grivot, whose name continues to appear on the labels, took over from his father in 1955 and handed on to his son Etienne in the early 1980s.

In 1994, a difficult year but a breakthrough vintage at the domaine, Etienne began to find his own voice and made a range of very fine wines given how poor the weather was. Since then he has not looked back, and a drive to reduce yields and fine-tune his work in the vineyards and cellar since the mid-2000s continues to drive quality upwards.

There is an average age of 45-to 50-year-old vines across this 15ha domaine which covers 22 appellations (18 red) with holdings in Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Clos de Vougeot, Echézeaux and Richebourg. Etienne produces a range of stunning wines which possess real depth and class. In answer to a question over the secret of his success, he confides "there's no recipe, it's very personal and as a result it's very frustrating as one's never content".

These are very personal and undeniably fine wines, with dramatically aromatic notes of red fruits, becoming denser up the range. JASPER MORRIS MW