The sommelier Gaël Saunié introduces the Premnord Wine list

Welcome to the Premnord restaurant's wine cellar. My name's Gaël Saunié, I am the sommelier responsible for creating the wine and beverage list here, including everything served as drinks in the restaurant. It took me three months work to create this selection. I'm introducing a wine list here with 700 references. 700 references of wine from all over the world. Centered around Domaine Prieuré Roch... Of course, and we have 78 references of the Roch wines. So to represent the wines here I chose... wines covering five vintages for each cuvée. We have four bottles and one magnum per cuvée. The idea is to showcase all these wines. having an exclusive wine list... focused on the Domaine. I wanted to also include these wines, with others produced with the same working philosophy of viticulture, craftsmanship, attitudes and... agricultural beliefs. Therefore, with wines from around the world... out of the 700 references, About one-sixth are international wines... Naturally many Burgundy wines as well. The aim was to maintain the friendly welcoming philosophy... that existed... at the former Bist’roch, in Nuits St. Georges... with wines which are sought-after... that are precise yet easily accessible, we really have a lot to offer... because we also try to present wines that are... affordable. For example, about 1/3 of the wines are priced below 50€ per bottle... The interest of this wine list... is to offer a range of the Prieuré Roch’s wines, which is quite comprehensive, but also to have other Burgundy wines available for enthusiasts. To offer locals, and to oenophiles... Burgundy wines that are produced which follow the same work philosophy. The idea is that Prieuré Roch was one of the pioneers among others, although there were older pioneers... pioneers in the late 1970s, which had work convictions following natural viticulture practices, using minimal additives in their wines. They were considered a bit crazy at the time, but are now regarded as being pioneers. My desire is to present them, talk about them, and introduce them. Because even if some of these vineyards have been around for over 40 years, they are not widely known to the general public... So it's also a way to talk about them, giving them the spotlight, and allowing people who come here, to taste them. The wine list was created to be able to offer... between 500 and 700 references at the table, a huge choice, but also to have the possibility to cellar the wines, and serving them when they reach an ideal maturity. So in fact this creation, is not only meant to be served now, but also to be served in 4, 5, or 6 years. Whether served by me or someone else, with the objective of creating a treasure trove of wines, that will be mature and ready to drink, when served. We now have 700 references available to serve, but overall, to start with, I have 1300 references in the cellar. So 1300 references, approximately 10,000 bottles, which provide a fantastic playing field, and it's the foundation of a wine list that we'll continue to expand and develop, based on the restaurant's needs, once it opens in a few days. Then we'll begin to see the turnover of some of the wines... But the goal is to expand it, to develop this incredible treasure, over 2, 3, 5, 10 years and be able to offer wines, that will become harder to find originating from those years. It's a wine list, but also a beverage menu. The objective is also to offer non-alcoholic beverages, produced in the same manner. We only work with local producers, people from Beaune or Dijon, who have recently started their businesses, and they make artisanal lemonades, ginger beers without additives... The same applies to distilleries: mostly local distilleries, in the Côte d'Or and Franche-Comté, With a few unique... with a few geographically unique options like Chartreuse, for example. As well as a local brewery, which is quite exclusive to the Côte d'Or... So, the aim is once again to present a menu with strong convictions, an educational beverage menu, so that people who come here to indulge themselves, and want to discover something new, can have choices. So a wine list that is also aligned with what our chef Céline Dédinger, proposes at the restaurant. We are truly focused on promoting what is local, artisanal, and natural.