This domaine has seen many changes over its nearly 170 years of existence, but it has always remained among family members. At its inception, the domaine was in the hands of the Nié-Vantey family and was composed of vineyards ranging from Santenay all the way up to Clos Vougeot. After the devastation of phylloxera, many vineyards were sold, but Georges Lochardet (husband of Marcelle Nié) managed to keep the best Côte de Beaune vineyards. His granddaughter, Brigitte, married Christian Heitz, and her 5-hectare share of the vineyards became Heitz-Lochardet.
For 25 years, Brigitte Lochardet contracted the totality of her vines to Maison Joseph Drouhin. As Armand Heitz, the next generation, completed his enology studies in 2011, he began recuperating his mother’s vineyards and converting them to full biodynamic practices. A young man with knowledge beyond his years, he completed his first vintage in 2013, and over the next two years brought the 10 total vineyard sites to production. Armand has enjoyed the guidance of consulting enologist Ludovic Pierrot, who spent eight years at the legendary Domaine Leflaive. As of the 2019 vintage, all wines are now labeled under the name Armand Heitz.
The wines are aromatic, extremely balanced, and expressive of their terroir—classic nods to old-school Burgundy winemaking practices. All Armand’s wines are whole-cluster fermentations, because he firmly believes that a wine’s essence is derived from the totality of the vine. Each component of the vine, from roots to leaves to stems, skins, and pulp, plays an important role in a living wine.
