5/4/26 - 

Have you ever stepped into a place for the first time and immediately felt transported into an entirely new world? After seeing La Tour Saint-Hilaire on a handful of “reserve” sections of wine lists in and around Beaune, and hearing so many wine professionals talk about how special this 1 hectare vineyard of Chardonnay is I had to go see it for myself. As we drove through the woods up a dirt road that seemed to lead to nowhere, I began to wonder if we truly were being led to one of the next great stars of Burgundy, or just another “it’s okay but not worth the hype” sort of place. Approaching the former hunting lodge turned winery that is the home of Valentin Cadel (pictured above on left) and La Tour Saint-Hilaire, was like walking into an entirely new place. Located just 3 minutes down the road from Durieul-Janthial in a small village that is just outside the limits of Rully on one side and Mercurey on the other is this small little domaine with just 1 hectare of vines (pictured below) that was planted in 2000. Fortunately for me, and now you, I can honestly say that La Tour Saint-Hilaire completely lived up to the hype. I was lucky enough to spend the better part of an afternoon with Valentin recently when he took our group for a long walk around the property, including a climb to the top of a tour (tower) built in 1862 as an offering to the Virgin Mary. From the top you could see all the way north to Nuit-Saint-Georges and as far South/Southeast to Mont Blanc. Being at the top brings you back to remembering that you’re in Burgundy still, with a stunning view of the Cote de Beaune along with nearby vineyards in the Chalonnaise. This tower is what you see featured on the front label of the wines and is what gives the domaine its name. 

Rich with history, the estate had passed hands with ownership a few times over the last 200 or so years with Valentin's parents purchasing the land in 2014. His father, Luc Cadel was an oenologist that made wine at Jadot and always dreamed of making his own wines. He tragically passed in 2017 and only was able to make a few vintages that Valentin ended up bottling after his passing. At the time Valentin was still in school studying Entrepreneurship and was not ready to return home just yet. When he finished his studies, he did apprenticeships in Beaune in domaines such as de Montille before establishing La Tour Saint-Hilaire in 2020. This is not your typical story of the next generation taking over and maybe changing a few methods in the farming and winemaking, this is the start of a domaine that is incredibly special. There is no Grand and Premier Cru vineyards being passed down, just the passion of one person that recognized the special terroir in a small plot in the Cote Chalonnaise and is making amazing wines. 

Upon returning home Valentin immediately began the conversion to organic farming with the goal to take care of this plot as if it were a Premier Cru since he believes it has the technical composition of one. It is important for him to protect the biodiversity of his land, the forest surrounding his vines provide “natural air conditioning" and to go further, he wants the place that he calls home to be a healthy area. When visiting him he said, "I want to go beyond organic, [because] good fruit that feels like their terroir, make good wine." We at CSW could not agree more with that sentiment. 2021 marked the first vintage of La Tour Saint-Hilaire and we are proud to introduce the second release of this really special wine today with it being the first release wine of Valentin's to the United States. 
 
In the cellar, Valentin presses the grapes gently for 2-3 hours before racking into tank for a brief period before fermentation. The juice is moved into almost entirely neutral barrels to ferment with native yeast. He goes as far as to use a wide range of coopers in order to allow the wines to better show their terroir. The wine is aged for 12 months in about 10% new wood, all other barrels are 2-3 years old. Lastly, the wine is racked into tank for 6 more months on the lees before bottling. He works to use as little sulfur as possible during the winemaking process but does add a little at bottling.
 
Valentin describes his wines as being traditional Burgundy, which I completely agree with. The 2022 shows incredible balance of power, ripeness, and freshness. It has lovely texture with notes of lemon, brioche, lime, and yellow apple. There is salinity with a racy energy. This tasted incredible right upon opening and when I popped a bottle at the shop last week, I watched it develop and drink beautifully over two days. I wouldn't know what happened on day 3 as I did not have the self-control to leave a little behind. Additionally, we ordered a bottle at Le Soufflot in Meursault, a restaurant known for having one of the best selections of White Burgundy in the Cote d'Or if not the world, and I won't name names, but La Tour Saint-Hilaire was a much more remarkable bottle than a very iconic wine served next to it. 
 
While today we just have one wine, there are some things in the works for Valentin to be able to offer more wines in the future. This is probably the first time you will hear about these wines, but it will surely not be the last. I expect them to gain acclaim quite quickly! The truth is in the bottle, so I encourage you to buy a bottle (or a few) as this very easily could become the next big thing in Burgundy. It has been a long time since wines from good producers in villages such as Chassagne were $75. On average I would say they now are around $100+! So much of what I work to do is to bring you wines that are of equal quality of those wines that are still accessible, which is exactly what we have for you today.  
 
-Hanna Krilov Cohen

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