Antoine Lepetit de la Bigne has long been one of Burgundy’s most quietly influential forces. He spent eight years at Domaine Leflaive, where he cofounded the École Du Vin et des Terroirs with Anne-Claude Leflaive — an intimate classroom in the Côte d’Or where growers came to deepen their understanding of soil, root, sky, and vine through the lens of biodynamics. After Anne-Claude’s death in 2015, Antoine stepped away from Leflaive and began consulting with a small circle of like-minded growers. One thing led to another, as it does when curiosity meets opportunity. The first vintage of La Pierre Ronde arrived in 2021.
Antoine does not yet farm any vineyards of his own, but the relationships he cultivated over fifteen years of biodynamic consulting gave him access to exceptional fruit from growers who share his philosophy. The wines are unmistakable: bright with energy, rigorous in structure, and pulsing with the clarity of someone who has spent a lifetime listening closely to the earth. Antoine works across barrels, foudres, and amphorae, choosing vessels to serve the terroir rather than impose a house style. All fermentations use ambient yeasts. Minimal sulfur throughout. He is based in Beaune and concentrates on the whites of the Côte de Beaune, with a growing range that now includes Meursault village and premier cru, aligoté from old vines near Corton, and a small amount of pinot noir.
Les Perchots is also on the Volnay side of Meursault, just above Les Malpoiriers, near the bottom of a gentle slope with deep soil and limestone gravels. The vines here were planted in the 1960s, making them over sixty years old, and their age is the reason Antoine uses less new oak on this wine than on Malpoiriers. The wine is typically aged in 40% new 350-liter barrels, with the balance in amphora and used barrels. Twelve months of aging, then a final few months in tank.
The Perchots carries more tension and mineral drive than the Malpoiriers. White pear, citrus blossom, and a hazelnut note from the older vines, with a chalky finish that lingers well past the glass. Classically built, with lovely persistence.
