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A New Winery in Burgundy? Impossible!
Wine history dating back to the middle ages, high demand for classic wines known around the world, it must be impossible to start a new winery in Burgundy, right? This is France, after all.

Look for the blue doors.  Nicholas Harbour and my wife, Julie

Go to the Blue door in Savigny-lès-Beaune
Impossible? No!  All you need to do is:

1. Quit your jobs.
2. Go to Viticulture and Winemaking school in Beaune. Same for your wife, Coleen.
3. Go to work full time for a local winegrower. Work in the fields and in the winery. Same for your wife. Earn your position with the neighbors.
4. Buy a condemned building and make it habitable (barely).
5. Invest in your own winemaking equipment.
6. Biggest of all, convince winegrowers in the region to sell you grapes.

This isn’t a fairy tale, it’s real and it’s the Maison Harbour story in brief.

When they moved in, leaky roof, no power, one step above “condemned”. Perfect.

In a lucky coincidence, I had posted a request for advice to a Burgundy group on Facebook before our trip. I received several helpful ideas on where to stay, eat and visit.  A surprise, I also received an invitation to visit from Nicholas, as he keeps in touch with the Facebook group.  When a winemaker offers, I listen!

Our first stop was the winery. Nicholas told us their story and about their first vintage, in 2013.

We found Maison Harbour in Savigny-lès-Beaune without too much trouble; remember, these are small towns.  Nicholas welcomed us and gave us the grand tour, including their story.  It sounded like a bit of a fairy tale until you think about a leaky roof, months to get power arranged, and a rush to get everything ready and find some grapes for the 2013 vintage. Somehow, they made it all happen, and here they are, having completed their third vintage.

Nicholas generously took us into their caves, first to the upper one where the whites are resting in a bit of warmth to complete their malolactic (ML) fermentation. Then, a bit lower to visit the reds, which rest at a cooler cellar temperature, allowing ML to occur slowly over the winter months. What a treat to taste the 2015 vintage from barrel! (click on any photo to view slide show)

Fresh 2015 1er cru Chassagne-Montrachet

The 2015 whites were in barrel, in an upper cellar kept a few degrees warmer. They were going through malolactic fermentation.

Dry, but not yet through malolactic (ML). The reds go through ML slowly, over the winter.

2015 Burgundy from the barrel. The thrill of tasting a young wine with the winemaker!

We finished up with a fun tasting of their 2014 vintage, which would be released in the spring of 2016.

Even in November, there’s something wonderful about visiting in the garden.

If you’re planning a trip to Burgundy, make sure you include a full range of wineries in your visit: big negociants, historic family wineries, and at least one crazy new winemaking couple!

Interested in a bit more information?  Here you go:

Maison Harbour 2015 Harvest Video

The Maison Harbour story from Oliver’s Travel Blog and another in-depth series of posts on CellarTracker. Even though they are small production, you can purchase their wines at pre-release.  Simply sign up at the Maison Harbour website. We’ll be receiving our first order this spring!

Thanks again to Nicholas for hosting us, we’re looking forward to seeing you in the US on a future trip!

Look for the blue doors in Savigny-lès-Beaune!