– 7 generations –

This familial domain is profoundly attached to the history of these marvelous Burgundy terroirs.

At the end of the 18th century, Jean Baptiste LALY, owner in Chassage-Montrachet, passed on his vineyard to his daughter Mélanie.

Mélanie LALY-LAUNAY 1819

At the beginning of the 19th century, Mélanie married Ferdinand LAUNAY and the family settled in Pommard.

Ferdinand LAUNAY

The domain slowly grew to a surface of 11.5 hectares, spreading from the Beaune Coast to the Nuits Coast where its Grands Crus Chambertin and Latricières-Chambertin are located.

Harvest 1965 in POMMARD 1er Cru Chaponnères vineyard.

Back from the sky to the earth

Nowadays, Xavier HORIOT pursues the work of Raymond LAUNAY his Grandfather, and follows the way of his ancestors running the domain.

Inspired by the legacy of his great uncle Bertrand, who enlisted as a fighter pilot during World War II, Xavier began his professional life with an 18-years long fighter pilot career in the French Air Force.

 (Bertand - Spitfire 1941)

Xavier was named knight of the Legion of Honor and handed the War Cross for his service.

(Xavier - Mirage 2000D 1999)

His Grandfather called him to take over the domain right before he died.
A decade of legal succession will then ensue. It tore the family apart. At the term of these ten years of fighting, Xavier managed to keep 4 hectares out of the 11.5 that the family used to own.

Xavier produced his first vintage in 2014.

The domain symbol represents Xavier’s journey from the air back to his roots: an intersection of wings and swords that forms a light blue “X”.
Wings for Xavier's aerial past and the purity he seeks to achieve in his wines, swords for the battles won and for the symbol of tools to plow his ancestors' land.