Dancer 2025: One Name, One Stake
One Name, One Stake
Vincent Dancer, an Alsatian engineer, took over a few family parcels in Chassagne-Montrachet in 1996 and in 2012 made them the first certified-organic domaine in the village. His son Théo came back in 2016, took full charge in 2021 and, from the 2024 vintage, set the first name down. The label now reads Domaine Dancer.
He believes a white is grown, not made. The training wires are gone, each vine tied to a single tall stake; the tractor has given way to the horse, and some four hundred fruit and forest trees now stand among the rows. In the cellar he does as little as the wine allows: native yeasts, no bâtonnage, no fining, no filtration, no new oak, and more time in large used barrels. The difference between the cuvées, he says, is the soil, not the man.
Founded 1996 · Organic since 2012 · Théo since 2021
2025: Picked in August
June brought days above 35°C; rain every few days kept the vines from drought. July cooled, August turned hot again, and on the Côte de Beaune the first whites were coming in by 19 August. A week of heavy rain around the 22nd carried the last of the ripening. Small, thick-skinned berries, low volumes, and whites that held their freshness through the heat.
Dancer answers a fast year the way he answers every year: with time. No new oak, large used barrels, the wines left on their lees for as long as they ask. The 2025s are released now and reach the cellar in August 2027.
Summer above 35°C · First whites 19 August · In cellar August 2027
Chassagne-Montrachet: Home Ground
The village where it began. Better known for its whites, Dancer’s Chassagne also gives a red of real perfume and finesse.
Morgeot Rouge 2025 · Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
From Morgeot, the largest premier cru of Chassagne, some 58 hectares and more than twenty lieux-dits. Perfumed and layered: cranberry, red fruit, damp earth, a hint of sandalwood. An ethereal red that drinks beautifully young, made in tiny volumes.
Chassagne-Montrachet 2025 · Village
Twenty-year-old vines, native yeasts, large used barrels. Rich yet balanced, with lively acidity: the house style in its most direct form, to open now or to keep.
Meursault: Two Lieux-Dits, Two Ages
Two village sites that read like premiers crus, from vines planted in 1968 and 1986.
Les Grands Charrons 2025 · Meursault · Vines of 1968
Next to Les Tessons, a short walk from Les Gouttes d’Or, on one of the finest slopes of the village. Old vines, concentrated, firm and fierce, with zesty acidity and a long saline finish: a Meursault with the amplitude of many premiers crus.
Les Corbins 2025 · Meursault · Vines of 1986
Native yeasts, large used barrels, bottled without fining or filtration. Weighty and palate-coating, the gastronomic, immediate face of Meursault.
A white is grown, not made.
Pommard: The Red Side
Dancer is known for whites. His Pommard is the argument that he should be known for reds as well.
Les Pézerolles 2025 · Pommard 1er Cru
Of Pommard’s twenty-eight premiers crus, Pézerolles is the one prized for elegance and intensity of fruit. Generous now, and built for more than a decade in the cellar.
Les Perrières 2025 · Pommard
Lifted bouquet, fruit-driven middle and a mineral spine: the charm of the site, medium-bodied and precise. To drink now, to lay down, or both.
Bourgogne: Where the Hand Shows
Four regional wines farmed and made exactly like the crus. In Dancer’s hands the Hautes-Côtes, high and windy, are no longer a fallback but a resource.
Bourgogne Blanc 2025 · Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet
Two sites, one in Meursault and one in Puligny. Native yeasts, large used barrels, unusual depth for a Bourgogne.
Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Blanc 2025
Altitude and wind slow the ripening and build complexity. Bright, precise, with a mineral finish.
Bourgogne Rouge 2025 · Near the Château de Pommard
A small vineyard by the Château de Pommard: red fruit, earth and a little spice, Pommard in spirit.
Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Rouge 2025
The way into Dancer’s reds: high-altitude Pinot Noir, fresh and direct.
Dancer 2025, Members First
Ten wines of 2025 from Chassagne, Meursault and Pommard, a vintage picked in August and raised without hurry, released by the domaine and open to members before anyone else. When a case is gone, it is gone.