Domaine de la Cras / Marc Soyard

🍇 Domaine de la Cras / Marc Soyard

Just a stone's throw from the centre of Dijon, there's a hillside that most people drive past without a second glance. That's where Marc Soyard quietly makes some of the most exciting wines in Burgundy. The Domaine de la Cras sits on a city-owned estate that was handed to him in 2016, and he's spent every year since proving that great wine doesn't always need a famous village name on the label.

🌍 A terroir on the edge of Dijon

The vines grow on the Côte Dijonnaise, the northern tip of the Côte de Nuits that history more or less forgot. Limestone, clay, plenty of stones underfoot — the raw material has always been there. Marc works the whole estate biodynamically, with horses in the vineyard, no chemical shortcuts, and a stubborn belief that healthy soil makes wine you actually want to drink a second glass of. The result is bright, mineral, full of tension, and unmistakably Burgundian.

🍷 The grapes in the glass

You'll find Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, of course, handled with a light touch and very little sulphur. But Marc also champions the older, almost forgotten varieties of the region: Aligoté, which he turns into something far more serious than its reputation suggests, plus Gamay, Pinot Gris and Melon. There are field blends too, planted the way growers did centuries ago. Each bottle tastes of the place rather than the cellar.

✨ Why you'll love these bottles

These are wines with energy. Juicy, crunchy reds that drink beautifully young but have the structure to wait. Whites with a saline edge and real depth. Production is small and the bottles disappear fast, so if a cuvée catches your eye, don't think about it too long. Pour one with roast chicken, a plate of charcuterie, or honestly nothing at all — they hold their own.