Frédéric Cossard

Frédéric Cossard is one of the central figures of the Burgundian natural-wine wave that began in the mid-1990s. He came to wine sideways - son of a dairy farmer, trained as a milk-production engineer, then around ten years as a Burgundian wine broker - before founding Domaine de Chassorney in Saint-Romain, on the western edge of the Côte de Beaune, in 1996. In 2006 he added a négociant arm, SARL Frédéric Cossard, working with organically and biodynamically farmed fruit bought across Burgundy - Meursault, Puligny, Chassagne, Pommard, Volnay, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanée, Beaune, Savigny - plus Jura and the Languedoc. From the 2022 vintage the Chassorney estate was sold outright to his long-time friend Aurélien Verdet (already a Hautes-Côtes-de-Nuits vigneron on his own family domaine), who now runs it; Cossard continues with the négoce.

The domaine grew to around ten hectares at its peak, across Saint-Romain, Auxey-Duresses, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Pommard, Volnay and the Hautes Côtes. Farming is organic-biodynamic in practice (horse ploughing, homeopathic preparations, copper and sulphur only), though the public record does not clearly document Demeter or Biodyvin certification dates.

The cellar is where the style actually lives. Indigenous yeasts, no temperature control, no added SO2 during vinification. Reds are whole-bunch with five- or six-week macerations and malo on the skins. Whites ferment very slowly in barrel, up to six months, with no bâtonnage. Further aging happens in a mix of concrete egg, oak, and Georgian qvevri amphorae - qvevri is a running theme, not a gimmick, on cuvées like Beaune Les Chardonnereux Qvevris and Gevrey Les Genevrières Qvevris. Reds get at least a year in wood, sometimes much longer. All unfined, unfiltered, bottled without added sulphur.

The Chassorney range is anchored by Bourgogne Blanc Bigotes, Bourgogne Rouge Bedeau, Saint-Romain Blanc Combe Bazin, and Saint-Romain Rouge (Sous Roche and Sous la Velle). Under the négoce sit the wider Nuits / Gevrey / Volnay / Meursault Narvaux / Puligny / Chassagne 1er Abbaye de Morgeot bottlings, plus Feel Good (skin-contact), Super Pink rosé, La Chassornade pét-nat, and the southern Version Sud cuvées.