DOMAINE CHRISTIAN SERAFIN
Domaine Sérafin Pere & Fils is run by second-generation vigneron Christian Sérafin. The house and cellars are situated just below the premier cru vineyard Les Cazetiers, at the top of the wine-growing village of Gevrey-Chambertin, in Burgundy’s legendary Cote d’Or region. The domaine encompasses 5.3 hectares of vines in the communes Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St.-Denis, and Chambolle-Musigny, including plots in numerous well-placed premier cru vineyards. The viticulture is completely organic.
Vineyards
Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
Mazoyers-Chambertin Grand Cru (vinified with Charmes-Chambertin and bottled as the latter)
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Le Fonteny
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux
Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes
Gevrey-Chambertin
Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes
Morey-St.-Denis 1er Cru Les Millandes
Bourgogne Rouge
Bourgogne Blanc
Origins of the Domaine
Christian’s father, Stanislaus, born in 1912, came from Poland in the late 1930’s (1937 or 1938), and settled with his wife in Gevrey-Chambertin. He was a “menusiere” (woodworker/cabinet maker) but as a Pole (immigrant) he could not practice a trade in France. Immigrants had two choices—to work in the mines, or as a farm worker. He chose agriculture over being down in a mine. Smart man. One important result, as one will see later—he learned about horticulture this way.
With the coming of World War II, Stanislaus joined the Polish Independent Highland Rifle Brigade, formed 14 February 1940, in Malestroit, in Brittany. On 23 April, the Brigade embarked aboard French transports and set sail for northern Norway—which had been invaded by the Germans one month earlier—being put ashore over 16-17 May at a landing area just south of Narvik. There, they engaged the Germans in heavy fighting throughout the next ten days. Meanwhile, the German invasion of France began on May 10, and the worsening situation there caused the Allied decision to withdraw troops from Norway. The last elements of the Polish Brigade withdrew by sea to France on 8 June 1940, to return to France at Brest six days later where the Brigade was hastily thrown into the defense of the Bretagne Peninsula and quickly overwhelmed. The Armistice with Germany was signed on 22 June 1940. Thereafter the Brigade was disbanded, some of its remnants being evacuated to England and Egypt, and the rest to remain in France to join the Resistance or be spread to the four winds. Not wishing to fall into German hands, Stanislaus appropriated a motorcycle and travelled from Brittany to Paris, then to Dijon, and then, just short of Gevrey, he was captured by the Germans and sent to Stalag 3B in Furstenberg, Germany, south of Frankfurt, where he would spend the next five years.
At war’s end, Stanislaus Sérafin came back home to Gevrey-Chambertin. His son, Christian, born in 1940, met him for the first time and greeted him, “Bonjour, Monsieur,” never before having known a father! At this time (1945) Stanislaus found work in Dijon, but was befriended by an Italian immigrant named Livera, who had just purchased a domaine in Gevrey. Livera offered Stanislaus the same wages that he was making in Dijon to come to work the vines for him in Gevrey. Stanislaus learned viticulture “on the job” and from growers in the village who were helpful. And during the war, Madame Sérafin had worked at Domaine Trapet in Gevrey-Chambertin, and learned much about wine-making, too.
As it turns out, Livera’s daughter was married to a Notaire (a real estate lawyer in France, with connections much like those of an agent when land comes on the market). After the war, land was available and relatively inexpensive, and through this Notaire, Stanislaus began to acquire some parcels for himself—abandoned vineyards, widows selling off, parcels involved in family disputes needing to be sold, etc. He got the money from an unlikely enterprise—he had started to grow a rare variety of onion, of all things, that became wildly in demand by the Burgundians and made a nice bit of money from it. Even bought a new car!
Christian, meanwhile, was growing up and trained to be an automobile mechanic, but in 1957, his father said—“You are working for me now.” Together they tended the vineyards and built a new house and caves. Christian even laid the stone work. He is a quiet-spoken, modest person, but one can see in him the admiration he has for his father’s accomplishments, and his own—clearly proud of all the three-star restaurants who seek his wines and the scores he receives from “Parker.” And when tasting, one sees how he has crafted wines that appeal both to the palates of the great sommeliers of France and the American critics—the wines have beautiful balance, concentration, and superb expression of terroir, all from the colossal amount and quality of work he does in the vineyards.
Today, much of the administration of Domaine Sérafin is being overseen by Christian’s daughter, and his niece is studying oenology with an eye toward taking over the winemaking at the domaine sometime in the future. And Sérafin’s daughter now has a son, so the future of the domaine looks certain in Sérafin’s eyes. Sérafin prefers 100% new oak for his premier crus* and the Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes because of the complexity—pain grille, café, vanil—and tannic strength, that it gives to his wines, and believes that it helps the wines to keep longer. Sérafin works with many coopers, appreciating the difference that the barrels of each brings. Sérafin’s wines spend from about 12 to 18 months in barrel, depending on the wine and the vintage, and are then racked out and assembled for one month prior to bottling with neither fining nor filtration. While in barrel, the wines are kept on the fine lees and are not moved. The used barrels are sold each year to Jean-Louis Chave.
*For Domaine Sérafin’s other wines the use of oak is as follows.
Bourgogne Rouge and Blanc, 50% New Barrel, 50% 1 Year Barrel
Gevrey-Chambertin, 70% New Barrel, 30% 1 Year Barrel
Wines Offered
Domain Christian Serafin Bourgogne Blanc 2008 - Arriving Soon
Domain Christian Serafin Bourgogne Rouge 2008 BUY »
Domain Christian Serafin Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes 2007 - WS 91 points, BH 91 points, IWC 91 points BUY » (Net Price Item)
Domain Christian Serafin Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2007 -IWC 93 points, BH 93 points, WS 91 points, BUY » (Net Price Item)
Domain Christian Serafin Gevrey-Chambertin 2007 - IWC 89 points, BH 87-89 points BUY » (Net Price Item)
Domain Christian Serafin Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 2007 - WS 93 points, IWC 92 points, BH 92 points BUY » (Net Price Item)
Domain Christian Serafin Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux 2007 - IWC 91 points, WS 90 points, BH 89-92 points BUY » (Net Price Item)
Domain Christian Serafin Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Fonteny 2007 - IWC 91 points, BH 89-91 points BUY » (Net Price Item)
Domain Christian Serafin Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2008 - Arriving Soon
Domain Christian Serafin Morey St.-Denis 1er Cru Les Millandes - WS 90 points, IWC 90 points, BH 89-92 points BUY » (Net Price Item)
