The city of Dijon purchased a 160-hectare agricultural property called Domaine de la Cras in 2013, located just outside the city limits. The former owner had already built a winery and planted 8 hectares of vineyards on land classified under the Bourgogne AOC, with a possibility to plant an additional 13 hectares. An open call for proposals was held to decide who would take over the winemaking, with the primary criteria being that the vineyards had to be farmed organically, the winner had to be a young winemaker with no existing family vineyards, and he or she must be interested in opening the domaine to the public for educational visits.
Marc Soyard was chosen, he was given free rein to live on-site at the Domaine, tend to the vineyards, and produce and sell his wines, under the condition that he pay a yearly “rent” in bottles to the city of Dijon. Marc is from a non-winemaking family in the Jura, who worked for six years at Domaine Bizot in Vosne-Romanée as vineyard manager and working in the cellar closely with Jean-Yves Bizot. Marc has adapted the same hands-off, natural philosophy to Domaine de la Cras that he learned at Domaine Bizot. All of the vineyards are farmed organically with some biodynamic practices. All vinification is done with natural yeasts and minimal addition of sulfur. Elevage is traditionally executed in a combination of new and used barrels, with frequent experimentation using different types of wood in small amounts, including the traditional oak from various forests, as well as chestnut and acacia barrels.
The official appellation at the domaine is Bourgogne AOC, but the Domaine de la Cras is the sole producer permitted to use the designation Coteaux de Dijon. The cuvée Coteaux comes from the lower elevation vineyards, while fruit for the cuvée Cras comes from the steeper, better exposed vineyards and has a longer elevage. Marc Soyard personally owns two small parcels of pinot noir further south in the Cote d’Or – one vineyard of Bourgogne rouge near Ladoix, which he named Hermaion and a second parcel in the Haute-Côtesde Nuits.
