High above the slopes of Burgundy’s Côte Chalonnaise — long known for producing some of the region’s most overlooked white wines — La Tour Saint-Hilaire stands watch, like a vigilant eye over the land below. Once a site where monks once came to worship, the estate is now marked by a giant tower built in 1862 from the ruins of an ancient priory by Johann Goubard, the land’s former owner, as an offering to the Virgin Mary. Today, the tower serves as the emblem of promise, goodwill, and a symbol of the domaine of the same name run by producer Valentin Cadel, who continues to honor the land and its legacy through the wines he makes.

Valentin is a second-generation winemaker and the son of Luc Cadel, an oenologist who bought the land with his wife in 2014. It was Luc’s lifelong dream to make his own wine and share his passion with clients during tours, but he sadly passed away soon after the domaine was established in 2017. Although it was not Valentin’s intention to take over the estate – having left home to finish his degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation before completing apprenticeships on vineyards in Beaune and South Africa – Valentin returned home in 2021 to take over the estate and honor the legacy his father sought to create with it. 

Today, with over 3 hectares planted with 20-year-old Chardonnay vines – all of which were converted to organic farming practices in 2020 – Valentin makes stunning, terroir-driven white wines that convey a deep respect for the land and its sacred history. The soil is mostly composed of sand and silt, which, deep into the earth, becomes chalky and friable like that of Champagne. Valentin’s philosophy in the field is that less is more. Starting late in the season after peak frost, Valentin avoids over-ploughing the land and opts to do only 2 or 3 ploughings during the season, keeping grass every 2 rows to maintain as much biodiversity in his soils as possible.

Grapes are harvested by hand at peak ripeness in small 10-12kg boxes and brought directly to the press, which sits just 20 meters above the fields in the winery. Using a small, pneumatic press that his father bought, Valentin gently presses grapes for 2-3 hours before racking to a new tank to start the fermentation. After a couple of days, he transfers the wine to a neutral barrel for the rest of the fermentation, where the wine ages on the lees for 12 to 18 months before bottling. He uses a similar method for his negociant project, which he labels un “Manoir de Saint-Hilaire.” Across his portfolio, Valentin makes wines that sing with acid, are grounded in minerality, and speak to the very high-level of wine that is being made at this special small estate in the Côte Chalonnaise.