Burgundy's Primitive Artist
Arnaud Chapuis is a radical natural wine original in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, Burgundy — a former marble quarry worker who transitioned to winemaking in 2011 and began producing his own wines in 2014 from 1.5 hectares of Aligoté and Pinot Noir planted by his grandfather between 1930 and 1970 near Échevronne, on the border of Pernand-Vergelesses. In 2018, he added another 1.5 hectares of Pinot Noir on a hilltop site beside a forest at the northernmost limit of the appellation. All 3 hectares are farmed organically and biodynamically, with minimal plowing, high grass cover, and remarkably wide spacing (3,000 plants per hectare versus the 10,000 common in Burgundy). Yields are extraordinarily low — 15–20 HL/ha in a normal year, a fraction of the 80–100 HL/ha typical of the region's mixed agricultural past. Arnaud works without additives of any kind — no sulfites, no selected yeasts, no enzymes, no filtration. He vinifies with whole clusters, uses a 20–24 hour manual vertical press, and ages in tank or barrel at his home cellar in Détain-et-Bruant. His wife Emmanuelle, Austrian by origin, brings 25 years of wine tourism and hospitality experience from Clos de Vougeot and Le Soleil. Their three sons include Yohan, whose loopy, faintly suggestive drawings adorn every bottle — all labeled simply "Ouverture," regardless of cuvée. Arnaud also works as a vineyard hand for Domaine Chandon de Briailles and previously worked at Prieuré Roch and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. His wines are quiet masterpieces — glowy, granular Aligotés and intense, dark-berried Pinot Noirs that prove even Burgundy can gain from a less professionalised, more primitive approach.
From Marble Quarries to Grand Cru Cellars
Arnaud Chapuis was born in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, Burgundy, but his path to winemaking was anything but conventional. Until 2011, he worked in the marble quarries of Comblanchien — a world of stone, dust, and heavy labour far removed from the manicured vineyards of the Côte d'Or. It was only in 2011, after completing a BPREA course, that he transitioned to vineyard work, beginning at some of Burgundy's most prestigious estates [^53^][^55^].
His apprenticeship was extraordinary. He worked at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti — the most hallowed name in Burgundy — and at Prieuré Roch, the cult natural-leaning estate in Nuits-Saint-Georges. Since 2016, he has also worked as a vineyard hand for Domaine Chandon de Briailles in Savigny-lès-Beaune, one of the Côte de Beaune's most respected biodynamic producers. These experiences gave him technical rigour, but they also confirmed what he already suspected: that the total professionalisation of Burgundian viticulture was stripping something essential from the wine [^53^][^55^].
In 2014, Arnaud began producing his own wine from 1.5 hectares of Aligoté and Pinot Noir that had belonged to his grandfather, planted between 1930 and 1970 near Échevronne, on the border of Pernand-Vergelesses. The vines were old, widely spaced, and surrounded by tall grass — a remnant of the mixed agricultural era when farmers adapted their vineyards to accommodate tractors used for other crops. Rather than replanting to modern density, Arnaud embraced what he inherited. In 2018, he added another 1.5 hectares of Pinot Noir on a hilltop site beside a forest at the northernmost limit of the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune appellation [^53^][^51^].
"It's better for what goes in the bottles."
— Arnaud Chapuis, on his 15–20 HL/ha yields
Échevronne & Détain, Hautes-Côtes de Beaune
Arnaud's 3 hectares are spread across several sites in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, the elevated, less famous hinterland behind the Côte d'Or's golden slope. The original 1.5 hectares near Échevronne sit on the border of Pernand-Vergelesses, planted at just 3,000 vines per hectare — a third of the density common in modern Burgundy. The vines are old (1930–1970 plantings) and trained high, with grass growing freely between rows. This is not neglect; it is a deliberate choice that reduces yield, increases vine stress, and forces deep rooting [^53^][^51^].
The 2018 Pinot Noir plantings occupy a hilltop site beside a forest at the northernmost limit of the appellation. The clay here is redder and stonier, the exposure more windswept. "Here there's much more wind, so almost no maladies," Arnaud notes. "But there's not much soil. Hot years are really hard for the vines. I'm practically on the summit of the hill, so there's no water runoff." Another parcel, near the cemetery of Échevronne, contains Pinot Noir along with cherry, apple, and pear trees — a site that gives new meaning to the notion of ancestral terroir [^53^].
Farming is organic and biodynamic, with minimal plowing and high grass cover. Arnaud's parents, who still live in the area, have always been "a bit like that — always in nature, they practice homeopathy." This way of life shaped Arnaud's approach: to make conventional wine would never have been in the spirit of the family. The tall grass, the wide spacing, the old vines, the fruit trees — all of it is part of a holistic vision that sees the vineyard as part of a larger ecosystem, not a factory for grape production [^53^].
At 3,000 plants per hectare versus the 10,000 typical in Burgundy, Arnaud's vineyards look almost wild. The wide spacing and high grass cover reduce yield naturally, increase competition for water and nutrients, and force vines to root deeply. This is not the tidy, manicured Burgundy of the grand crus; it is something older, more elemental, closer to how vineyards looked before the 1970s intensification.
15–20 HL/ha in a normal year — compared to the 80–100 HL/ha that mixed agricultural farmers once achieved in the Hautes-Côtes. These yields are not achieved by green harvesting or other interventions; they are the natural result of old vines, wide spacing, high grass cover, and minimal plowing. The fruit is small, concentrated, and deeply expressive — "better for what goes in the bottles," as Arnaud says with characteristic dryness.
The Échevronne parcel contains Aligoté and Pinot Noir planted between 1930 and 1970 — vines that have survived decades of changing fashion and economic pressure. The site also contains cherry, apple, and pear trees, remnants of the mixed agricultural era when vineyards were part of a broader farm ecosystem. Arnaud preserves this diversity, even producing small batches of cider and poiré for personal consumption.
Near the cemetery of Échevronne, Arnaud farms Pinot Noir alongside cherry, apple, and pear trees. On the other side of the forest, a windswept west-facing slope holds Aligoté from the 1930s, two rows of Pinot Noir from the 1950s, and young vine Pinot. "We can see if someone's stealing the cherries," Arnaud notes drily. This is terroir as lived experience, not marketing concept.
Zero Sulfites, Maximum Patience
Arnaud's cellar work is as radical as his vineyard management. All wines are made without additives of any kind — no sulfites, no selected yeasts, no enzymes, no fining agents, no filtration. Fermentations are spontaneous, carried out by indigenous yeasts present on the grape skins. Pinot Noir is generally vinified entirely whole cluster, with a small pied de cuve, and a short vatting of about a week. The approach is not dogmatic; it is simply "logical" for someone with such a small surface to do something different [^53^][^51^].
The press is the heart of Arnaud's method. He uses a manual vertical press — antique, slow, and extraordinarily long. Whites and reds are pressed for 20–24 hours, a duration almost unheard of in modern winemaking. This gentle, extended pressure extracts flavour and texture without aggression, resulting in wines of remarkable purity and finesse. The must is then transferred, either in barrel or tank, to the Chapuis' cellar at their home in Détain-et-Bruant [^53^].
The results are startling. His Aligoté — long the neglected child of Burgundy — achieves a glowy sumptuousness that surpasses, in purity and impact, even the dry late-harvest experiments of the de Moors. His Pinot Noir is intense, dark-berried, and saline, displaying none of the fatness or lack of direction that typifies warm vintages in many other cellars. These are quiet masterpieces — wines that prove even Burgundy, famous for its artisanship and tiny parcels, stands to gain from a less professionalised, more primitive approach [^52^][^53^].
The Primitive Art of Arnaud Chapuis
As wine writer Aaron Ayscough observed, Arnaud Chapuis is a "primitive artist" in the sense John Berger defined: not unsophisticated, but working outside the professionalised conventions of his field. In Burgundy, where total professionalisation reigns — dense planting, high yields, selected yeasts, temperature control, filtration, sulfite addition — Chapuis does the opposite. His wide-planted vineyards, his 20–24 hour manual press, his unhurried fermentations, his zero sulfite approach, and his refusal to filter are all choices that professional vignerons avoid because they are seen as incompatible with financial well-being. Chapuis makes these sacrifices because he is not trying to build a commercial empire; he is trying to make wine that honestly expresses his specific parcels of Hautes-Côtes de Beaune. He works as a vineyard hand for Chandon de Briailles to support his family. His wife Emmanuelle works in wine tourism and hospitality. Their three sons grow up among vines and presses. The wine is part of a life, not a business. And that life — primitive, patient, and deeply connected to place — is exactly what makes the bottles so compelling.
Ouverture — All Wines, One Label
Every wine Arnaud produces carries the same label: "Ouverture." The cuvées vary by vintage — typically a pétillant naturel from Aligoté, a direct-press Aligoté, a macerated Aligoté, and a Pinot Noir — but the label remains constant. The minimalist, loopy, faintly suggestive drawings were designed by his son Yohan, adding a homespun aesthetic that stands in deliberate contrast to the polished, terroir-obsessed labels of conventional Burgundy [^53^][^51^].
This uniformity is not laziness; it is a statement. Arnaud is not interested in building a brand hierarchy of crus and climats. He is interested in making wine from his specific parcels, and letting the wine speak for itself. The "Ouverture" label — meaning "opening" — suggests beginnings, possibility, and a refusal of closure. Each bottle is an opening onto a specific vintage, a specific parcel, a specific moment in the life of a vigneron who farms with radical patience and minimal intervention [^53^].
The wines are exported to Europe, the US, and beyond, with importers like Wright's Wine, Pieksman, and Marée Haute championing their cause. But quantities are tiny — 15–20 HL/ha across 3 hectares means total production is minuscule. Finding Arnaud's wines requires effort and luck. Those who do are rewarded with some of the most distinctive, pure, and alive Burgundies being made today — wines that challenge every preconception about what this famous region can be [^51^][^58^].
"To make conventional wine would never have been in the spirit of the family."
— Emmanuelle Chapuis
The Ouverture Range
All wines are made from organically and biodynamically farmed estate fruit, hand-harvested from old vines on the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune. Indigenous yeast fermentation, zero sulfites, no filtration, no additives. All cuvées carry the same "Ouverture" label with drawings by Yohan Chapuis. The range varies by vintage but typically includes a pétillant naturel Aligoté, a direct-press Aligoté, a macerated Aligoté, and a whole-cluster Pinot Noir. Production is extremely limited due to low yields [^53^][^55^].