Catharina Sadde trained as a chef in Michelin-starred German kitchens before her path bent toward wine. Wine degrees from Geisenheim and Montpellier SupAgro came first, then a résumé that reads like a tour of Burgundy's most singular addresses: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Comte Armand, Marquis d'Angerville, Cécile Tremblay, Drouhin, de Vogüé. In 2019, she and her husband Guilhem launched Les Horées from a rented cellar in Pommard, naming the project after the Greek goddesses of the seasons. The domaine now spans 1.5 hectares of biodynamically farmed vines around Beaune, supplemented by parcels she works herself on long-term arrangements with neighbors. Whole clusters are used liberally, sulfur sparingly, and the cellar work follows instinct rather than a fixed playbook.

Aganippe takes its name from a spring in Greek mythology whose waters carried inspiration to the Horae themselves. The chardonnay comes from biodynamically farmed vines on the southern side of Meursault, near the Puligny border, planted in the 1970s. Catharina has also planted chardonnay in her own plots in Pommard and Puligny and is waiting for those to bear fruit. 

After being foot-crushed, the grapes go into a small vertical press. Fermentation is by way of indigenous yeasts, and the wine is aged roughly ten months in used barrels. Notes of lemon zest, white peach, salted almond, and a thread of chalk running through the finish. The texture has gravitas without the gravity, with gleaming acidity throughout.