Catherine and Louis Poitout, childhood friends born and raised among the vineyards of Chablis, in the northern heart of Burgundy. For years, they followed different paths, far from the vines, between cities and careers worlds apart. But Chablis, with its magnetic pull and that white soil made of prehistoric seashells, eventually called them back home. So, in 1994, their paths crossed again, transforming a friendship into a shared life and wine project. Today, Domaine L&C Poitout is a 26-hectare estate that perfectly represents the “new wave” of French viticulture: an approach that blends an almost sacred respect for tradition with a modern sensitivity towards sustainability. Chablis, for those unfamiliar with it, is a place where Chardonnay is not simply a grape variety, but the voice of an ancient soil: the Kimmeridgian. Thousands of years ago, this land was covered by the sea, and today the vine roots sink deep into limestone marls rich in marine fossils. It is precisely this underground “secret” that gives their wines that vibrant, almost saline minerality that makes them unmistakable. Catherine and Louis manage their vineyards with a philosophy they describe as “thoughtful and beneficial”. Unsurprisingly, the estate holds HVE 3 (Haute Valeur Environnementale) certification, the highest environmental certification in France. Here, every parcel is listened to and cared for like a living being: light ploughing is practised to allow the soil to breathe, while biodiversity is preserved to maintain the natural balance between flora and fauna. But there is one fascinating detail that makes Domaine Poitout a cult destination for wine enthusiasts: the production of wines from own-rooted vines (vignes francs de pied). These are extremely rare vines, not grafted onto American rootstocks, which survived or were replanted in defiance of phylloxera. Chardonnay as it was more than a century ago.