Boyer Family Winery: When Burgundy Comes to California

Last week I was at a tasting at The Mick, a Scottsdale spot that does everything right: serious food, a wine collection worth exploring, and over 40 beers on tap. Their wine guy Jeff, who calls himself the Resident Cork Dork, poured something I had not encountered before. Boyer Family Winery. Single-vineyard Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands, made by a fourth-generation Burgundy winemaker who decided California was worth a closer look. It stopped me.

Four Generations of Burgundy, One California Vineyard

Vincent Boyer grew up at Domaine Yves Boyer-Martenot in Meursault, one of the Côte de Beaune’s most respected addresses. The family farms about ten hectares across Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Auxey-Duresses, and Pommard, including premier cru parcels in Meursault Les Perrières and Puligny-Montrachet Le Cailleret. For four generations, Burgundy was the whole story.

Then Vincent started thinking about California. He had worked at Truchard Vineyards in Carneros and knew what cool-climate California fruit could do. He searched the state for the right site, something that matched his instincts about where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay want to grow. He landed on the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County, a high-elevation appellation above the fog line where cold Pacific air pushes through the Salinas Valley every afternoon and slows ripening to a crawl. He found Escolle Vineyard and signed a long-term contract for a single block, working in partnership with Caraccioli Cellars.

His US partner is Gabriel Justice, who had lived in Carmel-by-the-Sea and owned restaurants in Monterey before a mutual friend connected him with Vincent. Justice flew to France, stayed nearly a year, worked a harvest, and came back a believer. The two launched Boyer Family Winery with the 2019 vintage.

The Wine

Production is just over 200 cases. Both the Chardonnay and the Pinot Noir are single-vineyard from Escolle, made with native yeasts, gentle handling, and the kind of restraint that is second nature when you grew up in Meursault. The Pinot Noir uses 30 percent whole-cluster fermentation and spends 12 months in French oak, 20 percent new. The Chardonnay gets 12 months in French oak followed by six months in a concrete egg, which gives it texture without weight.

ABV is 13 percent on both. That number tells you something. Vincent is building for balance and what he calls tension: the interplay between acidity and fruit that makes a wine interesting across a full glass rather than impressive on the first sip.

Richard Betts, the Master Sommelier who serves as sales ambassador, put it plainly: “The first time I tasted this, I would never have guessed California.”

Where to Find It

Distribution is intentionally small. The wines are sold direct in Arizona and California only, with no traditional distributor. In the Phoenix area, Atlas Wines carries it. In Scottsdale, The Mick is pouring it, and if Jeff the Resident Cork Dork is behind the bar, ask him about it. In Sedona, Lisa Dahl holds an exclusive across Mariposa, Cucina Rustica, and Dahl and DiLuca. The 2019 vintage is sold out. The 2022 Chardonnay and 2022 Pinot Noir are the current releases.

Two hundred cases across two states does not go far. If you come across a bottle, do not wait on it. For more about the vineyard go to https://boyerfamilywinery.com/