The Youngest Sister & the Limestone of Morvan
La Sœur Cadette is the négociant label and umbrella brand of the Montanet family — one of the most important organic wine producers in northern Burgundy. Based in Saint-Père, near Vézelay in the Yonne, the estate was founded in 1987 by Jean and Catherine Montanet and is now led by their son Valentin, who in 2016 launched La Sœur Cadette as a négociant project to supplement the family's estate production. The name — the youngest sister — is a tender nod to Catherine, the cadette of her family. Together, the three labels — Domaine de la Cadette, Domaine Montanet-Thoden, and La Sœur Cadette — produce organic, low-intervention wines from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay, and the rare Melon de Bourgogne, farmed across 13 hectares of Kimmeridgian limestone and clay in the Morvan hills. The wines are hand-harvested, spontaneously fermented, and raised with minimal sulphur — crystalline, mineral, and unmistakably honest expressions of one of Burgundy's most quietly revolutionary terroirs.
The Cooperative & the Lapierre Epiphany
The story of La Sœur Cadette begins with Jean Montanet, a Normandy farmer who arrived in Vézelay in the 1980s and, together with his wife Catherine — a local woman from a vigneron family in Saint-Père — planted their first vines in 1987. At the time, the Vézelay region was in decline, its vineyards shrinking and its reputation faded. Rather than retreat, the Montanets helped establish the local cave cooperative, with Jean serving as its president. It was here, surrounded by fellow growers, that Jean found his footing as a vigneron, counselled by the brilliant Bernard Raveneau of Chablis.
The turning point came in the late 1980s, when Jean met Marcel Lapierre. The encounter was an electroshock. Lapierre's sulphur-free, natural wines — considered UFOs at the time — opened Jean's eyes to a different path. Inspired, the Montanets began farming organically in 1999 and achieved certification in 2002 — a bold, almost reckless decision in a region where most wine was sold in bulk. By 2004, unable to fully express their vision within the cooperative, they split off to create Domaine de la Cadette, taking their vineyards with them.
Their son Valentin, born in Auxerre in 1987, grew up among the vines. After studying at Changins in Switzerland, working with Jean-Claude Chanudet in Beaujolais, and a formative stint in California, he returned to Vézelay in 2010 to join the family estate. In 2016, after devastating frosts wiped out three-quarters of the harvest, Valentin launched La Sœur Cadette as a négociant label — sourcing organic grapes from trusted growers in the Mâconnais, Beaujolais, and beyond. What began as insurance against climate disaster has become a celebrated range in its own right, distinguished by graphic, modern labels and the same low-intervention philosophy that defines the estate.
"Jean's encounter with Marcel Lapierre in the late 1980s was an electroshock. The emotion was vivid; tasting these 'UFOs' opened a new path."
— Nicolas Luquet, Maître de Chai
Vézelay & the Morvan Limestone
The Montanet family farms 13 hectares across 18 parcels in four communes — Vézelay, Asquins, Saint-Père, and Tharoiseau — deep in the Morvan, the ancient granite massif that runs west of the Côte d'Or. The terroir is exceptional: the uplift of the Morvan has exposed marl and limestone strata rich in fossilised marine deposits. Though Vézelay is geographically close to Chablis, the soils are distinct — a patchwork of blue, grey, and red clays interspersed with shallow limestone and Kimmeridgian marl, rather than the pure Kimmeridgian of Chablis proper.
The climate is slightly cooler than Chablis, but the vineyards enjoy excellent sun exposure on south-facing slopes, creating a balance between generous fruit and deep mineral structure. The Montanets were instrumental in the campaign to elevate Vézelay from a regional Bourgogne appellation to a village-level AOC in 2017 — a recognition of the quality of their white wines that places Vézelay on the same tier as Pommard and Volnay, albeit for Chardonnay only.
All estate vineyards are farmed organically and by hand. The family cultivates Chardonnay as their primary grape, followed by Pinot Noir, with smaller plantings of Melon de Bourgogne, Gamay, and the rare César — an ancient Roman variety permitted only in the Yonne. The négociant arm of La Sœur Cadette extends this philosophy beyond the estate, sourcing organic fruit from the Mâconnais (Chardonnay), Chablis (Chardonnay), Volnay (Pinot Noir), and the Beaujolais crus (Gamay from Juliénas and Chénas). Every parcel, whether owned or purchased, is chosen for its ability to express mineral clarity and honest fruit through natural vinification.
The family cellar and public tasting room — Le Pied dans le Plat — sit at the entrance to Saint-Père, a quiet village on a small creek southeast of the legendary Basilica of Vézelay. The surrounding vineyards are a patchwork of exposures and soil types: light, shallow clay-limestone on the upper slopes; deeper, stonier soils on the mid-slopes; and red clay with limestone flecks on the lower hills. This diversity allows the Montanets to blend across parcels for complexity or to isolate specific sites for single-vineyard expressions. The village itself is a hub of the Vézelay revival, drawing natural wine pilgrims from Paris and beyond.
The Morvan massif has lifted ancient marine sediments to the surface, creating a unique soil matrix of limestone, marl, and fossil-rich clay. Unlike the pure Kimmeridgian of Chablis, the Vézelay soils are more varied — blue-grey clays, red iron-rich clays, and pockets of shallow, stony limestone. This diversity gives the wines a complex mineral signature: the Chardonnays show saline, chalky notes and bright citrus; the Pinot Noirs display a rusty, iron-like mineral quality; and the Melon de Bourgogne achieves a rare combination of generous fruit and stony freshness. The uplifted terroir is the silent architect of every Montanet wine.
The Montanets have been organic since 1999 and certified since 2002. No synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilisers touch the vines. Treatments are limited to copper, sulphur, and plant-based preparations. In the cellar, Valentin and his maître de chai Nicolas Luquet work according to the lunar calendar — a practice that reflects their holistic, low-intervention philosophy. The goal is not merely to produce wine, but to regenerate the soil and create a self-sustaining agricultural ecosystem. This philosophy extends to the négociant wines, where only organic or converting fruit is accepted, and the same cellar protocols apply.
The family operates three distinct labels. Domaine de la Cadette is the original estate, founded in 1987, producing wines from the family's own vineyards. Domaine Montanet-Thoden — created in 2000 by Catherine and a Dutch partner, Tom Thoden — consists of 8 hectares of similar limestone-clay terroir, now fully under the family's management. La Sœur Cadette is the négociant label, launched in 2016, sourcing organic grapes from beyond the estate. All three are made in the same cellar by the same team, with the same philosophy: native yeasts, no chaptalisation, minimal sulphur, and a relentless pursuit of freshness and mineral clarity.
Native Yeasts & the Stainless-Steel Hand
The cellar philosophy of La Sœur Cadette and the Montanet family is one of radical simplicity and transparency. All grapes — estate and négociant — are hand-harvested into small cases and transported to the cellar in Saint-Père. No selected yeasts, no enzymes, no chaptalisation, and no commercial additives of any kind are used. Fermentation is spontaneous, driven by indigenous yeasts from the vineyards and the cellar.
The whites are the estate's signature. Most are pressed gently and fermented in stainless steel tanks, where they remain on their lees for 7 to 10 months without stirring. The exception is La Piècette, the barrel-fermented Chardonnay that ages in 228-litre pièces for 10 to 12 months — a nod to Burgundian tradition within an otherwise tank-driven programme. The reds are handled with equal restraint: whole-cluster or partially destemmed ferments, gentle punch-downs, and ageing in neutral oak casks or tank. The Juliénas and Chénas see whole-bunch carbonic maceration before pressing and maturation in large wooden foudres.
Minimal sulphur is the guiding principle — added only in small amounts after malolactic fermentation and at bottling, if at all. The wines are unfiltered or lightly filtered (the Chablis sees a kieselguhr pass), preserving their natural haze and living texture. The result is a range of wines that are crystalline, saline, and profoundly drinkable — whites of lemon-lime zest and chalky acidity; reds of violet perfume and rusty mineral depth. The Montanet style is not about power; it is about precision, freshness, and the honest voice of limestone.
Spontaneous Fermentation, Minimal Sulphur & the Lunar Calendar
The guiding principle of the Montanet cellar is that the vineyard does the work, and the winemaker's job is to listen. The organic farming provides healthy, complex grapes. The hand harvest provides pristine fruit. The native yeasts provide spontaneous, site-specific character that changes with each vintage and each parcel. The stainless steel preserves the purity and freshness of the fruit without the masking effect of oak. The lees contact provides texture and depth. The lunar calendar provides a rhythm that respects the wine's natural evolution. And the minimal sulphur — far below organic limits — provides a wine that is alive, transparent, and deeply expressive of its Morvan terroir. The cellar is a place of patience and observation, where the only intervention is the refusal to intervene.
La Châtelaine, La Piècette & the Juliénas Signal
The Montanet family produces a diverse, multi-label portfolio of approximately 120,000 bottles per year across Domaine de la Cadette, Domaine Montanet-Thoden, and La Sœur Cadette. The core is Chardonnay from Vézelay — crystalline, saline, and mineral — but the range extends to Pinot Noir, Gamay, Melon de Bourgogne, and even the ancient César grape. La Sœur Cadette specifically encompasses the négociant wines: Chablis, Mâcon, Bourgogne Blanc and Rouge, and the Beaujolais crus. All share the same vinification ethos: native yeasts, no chaptalisation, minimal sulphur, and a relentless pursuit of freshness.
The Vézelay Revolution & the Montanet Hand
La Sœur Cadette and the Montanet family are not merely making wine; they are rewriting the story of Vézelay. In a region that had fallen into obscurity — dismissed as a viticultural cul-de-sac between Chablis and the Côte d'Or — they have proven that the Kimmeridgian limestone and clay of the Morvan can produce wines of crystalline purity, mineral depth, and genuine nobility. Their role in securing village-level AOC status for Vézelay in 2017 was the culmination of three decades of organic farming, precise winemaking, and unwavering belief in a forgotten terroir.
The legacy of the Montanets is the legacy of a quiet, peaceful revolution. Jean and Catherine began with a cooperative and a dream; they ended with an estate, a négociant label, and a reputation that draws natural wine pilgrims from across the world. Valentin has inherited not just the vineyards, but the philosophy — organic viticulture, native yeasts, minimal sulphur, and the refusal to chase fashion. His expansion into négociant wines from Chablis, Mâcon, and Beaujolais is not a departure from this philosophy but an extension of it: a search for honest fruit from honest growers, handled with the same transparency that defines the estate.
The future is one of continuity and gentle expansion. As the Vézelay vines accumulate another year of organic wisdom, as the négociant network deepens, and as the family's wines continue to appear on the lists of Le Chateaubriand, Le Bougainville, and the finest natural wine bars of Paris, London, and New York, La Sœur Cadette remains what it has always intended to be: the youngest sister, growing up in the shadow of a great family, but finding her own voice — clear, mineral, and profoundly alive. The story of La Sœur Cadette is the story of a family who looked at a declining vineyard region and saw not a dead end, but a destiny — and who proved that the best bottle from Vézelay is the one that needs no explanation, only a glass, a meal, and the patience to let the limestone speak.
"The wines are very regular and remarkably frank in their expression. High-flying whites with pure fruit that highlight all the potential of the Vézelay sector."
— La Revue du Vin de France, Guide Vert 2026