With the great majority of its 4000+ domaines being small, family-run affairs of less than 24 acres, France’s Burgundy region is the embodiment of the small-batch winery.

In fact, Burgundy as a whole boasts only 115 square miles of land under vine; acreage that also goes towards wines made by Burgundy’s 100+ négociants.

This ownership structure is more a result of Napoleon’s (in)famous inheritance laws than of particular inclination on the part of Burgundy’s winemakers. But there’s no denying that Burgundy’s vignerons have adapted to their current state of affairs, favoring character and incredible quality over economies of scale.

The same can generally be said of most small-batch wineries… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In this article, we’ll cover some of the many advantages of opting for small-batch wine.

1. Personalized Care and Attention

Like an assembly line, large-scale wineries hire employees and then allocate them to their individual tasks. The farmers farm, the chemists do their chemistry, and the operators work their machines. 

While undoubtedly efficient, this partitioning of work can also result in a sense of alienation from the final product, as each worker only sees a small part of the big picture.

Small-batch wineries don’t work quite the same way. Partly out of passion, partly from necessity, smaller wineries often work with smaller crews that are generally more involved in the larger process. 

At harvest time, it’s not uncommon for the winemaker to be out in the fields picking grapes with everyone else; for them to be present as the wines are pressed and macerated, and of course, to be on watch as the juice is vinified and aged.

There is, of course, a practical reason for this. Using all the labor at your disposal helps keep costs down. But involvement at every step also brings a different spirit to the work. Teams are tightly-knit families, and are deeply invested in the wine they make, and their own personal contributions to the final product. 

The master winemaker, working right alongside them, can follow along at every step; feel the sun and soil that nourish the vines, taste the grapes as they grow and mature, and envision the wine before the grapes are even harvested.

This relationship evokes a sense of reverence between winemaker, grape, and the wine that will eventually result; a desire to bring the absolute best out of the magnificent grapes at their disposal. Being family-run affairs, winemakers have likely been working with grapes from a young age, and possess the skills and knowledge needed to turn their vision into reality.

Without question, this care and reverence come through in the wine.

2. They Offer Greater Variety

The second big benefit of Burgundy’s small-batch wineries is the immense variety they can offer the wine lover’s palate, even within such a small area. From the cooler regions in the north, the sunny limestone escarpment of the Cote d’Or heartland, to the warmer, not-quite-Mediterranean regions of the south, Burgundy has a remarkable variety in topography, temperature, wind, and soil composition that results in a remarkable variety of finished wines.

As we’ve often mentioned in other articles, Burgundy’s winemaking philosophy is deeply rooted in the notion of terroir, or sense of place. This inward-outward stance results in a conception of the winemaker as someone who nurtures and refines the regional elements already present in the grapes, rather than altering their fundamental character to achieve the highest profit.

The net result is a patchwork of vineyards, all Burgundian, yet all unique in their own particular way. From year to year, from domaine to domaine, no two bottles are exactly alike, and this offers the wine lover an endless horizon for exploration and discovery.

3. They’re More Environmentally Friendly

Small-batch wine, on the whole, tends to be more ecologically friendly than the mass-produced stuff. Vignerons care deeply about their land, and want to pass their vines on to their children healthy and whole - not worn ragged by artificial fertilizers and chemical pesticides. 

This organic inclination is a growing trend in Burgundy in particular. In the past few decades, as our knowledge of the harmful effects of chemical intervention on vineyards has increased, their use has declined significantly. Meanwhile, the number of producers using sustainable, organic or biodynamic practices has only gone up.

Unsurprisingly, this new approach has resulted in tastier, healthier wines and hardier, more adaptable vines.

Small-batch wineries tend also to have smaller carbon footprints; grapes are often pressed locally instead of being transported long distances, and much of the wine produced is destined for local markets. In fact, a full half of Burgundy wines are sold in the bars, restaurants, hotels and shops of France.

4. They Represent the Artisanal Spirit of Winemaking

There are two forces at work in the world of wine.

One treats wine as a commodity; a product to be bought and sold in the name of profit. Producers who follow this philosophy don’t have many qualms about additives and adulterants or cultivating heavily crowded (and therefore diluted) grapes. While these practices may result in cheaper wines, they also tend to obliterate any sense of terroir and have a negative impact on wine quality.

The other approach views wine and winemaking in terms of taste and tradition, lifestyle and philosophy. Producers who believe in this artisanal model care deeply about wine for its own sake, as an end in itself, and as often as possible will opt for the decisions that result in high quality wines of regional character and aromatic complexity. 

Buying from small-batch wineries means that you support the second type of winemaking, the idea that wine is more than just a beverage, but the product of dedication and craftsmanship.

5. Their Wines Tell a Story

Every bottle of wine tells a story, and whenever you buy one you become a part of it.

With mass-produced wine, that story is the same across the board. Wherever they’ve been cultivated, the grapes were harvested mechanically and more or less indiscriminately, crushed in automated presses, vinified by formula in enormous steel vats, then bottled and labelled on an assembly line before being shipped, along with a million other bottles, to the United States.

Small-batch Burgundy wines tell a different story. A story of tradition and dedication, of techniques passed down through the generations, and of a history that goes back hundreds and hundreds of years. A story of a dedicated artisan chaperoning the wine from bud to bottle, proud of making the best damn wine they possibly could.

And we think that’s a story worth telling!