... before it is made in the vat
Vineyard Practices
Special care is taken with all vineyard work: severe bud removal, leaf stripping on the east side, and higher trellising to optimise photosynthesis. These practices allow the vine to express itself fully and produce healthy, high-quality grapes.
Winemaking and Ageing
The winemaking and ageing processes follow the same philosophy as the vineyard work—with the utmost respect for the terroir.
Pinot Noir:
The grapes are handled with great care, receiving the same level of attention as the wine itself. Harvesting is done in small, perforated 20 kg crates. Sorting takes place at the winery on a vibrating table. After destemming, the grapes are transferred directly into concrete vats via a conveyor belt, with no pumping.
Fermentation begins with a cold maceration (12–13°C) for about 4–5 days. The process then starts naturally with indigenous yeasts (no additions), involving gentle punch-downs and pump-overs, and lasts around 10–12 days. It concludes with a light skin infusion at 25°C for 3–4 days.
After racking and pressing, the press wine is tasted and either blended or kept separate. The final blend is assembled in stainless steel vats before being transferred to barrels the next day, retaining only the fine lees. Ageing, depending on the terroir and vintage, takes place in new barrels, or those one or two years old, or in stainless steel vats. Bottling occurs after 12 months of ageing, without fining, and only after a light filtration.
Chardonnay:
The grapes are also harvested in perforated crates and placed whole into the press, with no pumping. After pressing, the juices are settled statically for a day to remove the coarsest lees. Fermentation takes place in new barrels or those one or two years old, depending on the terroir. The wines are stirred to resuspend the fine lees.
After 12–15 months of ageing, bottling is carried out following fining and a light filtration to give the wine its full brilliance.
Five centuries of history...
OUR ESTATE TODAY
Arnaud MITANCHEY looks after the 8.5 hectares of vineyards
2012
Domaine Saint Marc cultivates 6 hectares of vineyards. Arnaud Mitanchey (son of Jean-Claude), a graduate of the Beaune School of Viticulture, joined the business after spending six months in California. He brought with him 1.50 ha of vineyards, including two Premier Cru sites: Maranges and Santenay.
2005
Twenty-five years later, the two families (MITANCHEY and AUBURTIN) own 5.5 ha of vineyards, including such prestigious appellations as Santenay, Pommard, Beaune Premier Cru and Meursault.
1987
The estate continues to expand; it now owns vineyards in Santenay. Dominique Auburtin, Philippe’s brother, joins the team; the estate also owns vineyards in Pommard.
1980
Over the Easter weekend, two friends meet up, as they have done every year for the past fifteen years or so...
On the principle of ‘why not us?’, they floated the idea of setting up a wine estate. Both shared the same passion for Burgundy and its wines: Jean-Claude Mitanchey, an oenologist, managed 140 hectares of vineyards in the Rhône Valley, whilst Philippe Auburtin, from a long-established Beaune family, had become a finance specialist in Paris.
They established Domaine SAINT MARC by purchasing part of the Mitanchey family’s estate.
The first harvest took place in 1980, yielding wine from just 10 ‘ouvrées’ of vines under the regional appellation.
1951
Jean Gabriel, known as Bibi, born on 2 December 1920, son of Joseph, married Michèle Rossignol; together they continued and expanded the wine-growing business. From 1965 onwards, they devoted themselves exclusively to working the vines and increased the size of the estate, which became a fully-fledged wine estate.
1919
With his two brothers having died in the war, Joseph Mitanchey, son of Jean Baptiste, chose to take over the family’s land and vineyards rather than pursue a career as a baker. To ensure a sufficient income, he also worked as a cooper for thirty years.
1735
20 February 1735: The chapel, originally dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, became Saint Mark’s Chapel. The ruins still stand today near the estate’s wine cellar.
1489
10 October 1489: An extract from the rent rolls for the Paris l’Hôpital district records that Jean MITANCHER was farming land at a place known as Pré Romain, where the estate still owns land today.
1243
October 1243: PARIS sous NOLAY becomes PARIS L’HÔPITAL. A manuscript records: Knight GUILLAUME de Desise, being unable to set out on the Crusades, granted the Order of the Hospital of Jerusalem a plot of land situated in Paris sous Nolay. The Commandery of the Knights Hospitaller established a guesthouse and a chapel there. Four families still living in Paris l’Hôpital are listed in 1243 in the land register held in the Dijon archives, including the Mitancher family.
