Our Stories

Emmanuel Sala – Winemaker

Being a winemaker isn’t just my job — it’s a calling. I’m proud to be a Pommard winemaker, especially at the historic Château de Pommard. It’s hard work, but the new vintages every year make it all worth while. 

I’ve worked at Château de Pommard since 2007, a whole decade. It has been wonderful to watch Clos Marey-Monge evolve over that time ; and I’m delighted to have been able to learn some of her secrets. She has become a dear friend over the years. It’s been my life’s dream to put this Clos ; and the wine of Château de Pommard ; back on the map of Burgundy’s very best by bringing out the greatest display of this remarkable terroir.

In a way I’ve come full circle. My first major role in winemaking was at Domaine Josmeyer, Alsace, in the early ’90s, where I started my lifelong love affair with biodynamic winemaking, a journey we have now begun at Château de Pommard. After my time in Alsace, I made wine as the Technical Manager at Château Vannières in wonderful Bandol, in the south of France. Before moving back to Burgundy, my home.

Making wines for Clos Marey-Monge and Burgundy is my life, and for that I feel forever fortunate. I want to share our wines, and the beauty of the Clos and Pommard with as many wine lovers as possible. In 2017, we’ve got a new cuverie and winemaking facility to build, which will be an exciting, if daunting, project to keep us all busy. And that’s only the start.

I live in Bouze-lès-Beaune with my wife, Alexia, and my two daughters. On the very rare occasion I’m not pacing around the Clos or the cuverie, you can find me horse riding with my family among the hills near my home. It brings me peace when the vines, and nature, do not!