AMI is a project between two good friends, Paul and Willy. They have created a domaine/negoce operation in the Maranges valley, in the south of the Côte de Beaune. Willy had spent time working at Domaine de Montille in Puligny-Montrachet and Paul at La Maison Romane in Vosne-Romanée. The pair met and worked at Clos du Moulin aux Moines in Auxey-Durresses (where Willy is still the head winemaker), before Paul moved to Provence to work at Domaine Hauvette. But after being apart, they came to the realisation that they wanted to work together again, and so AMI was born.

The pair have very small holdings of their own, and also purchase organic grapes from friends in various villages throughout the Côte-d'Or, and further afield. They currently own around 4ha of vines, and buy roughly the same amount of grapes from friends (all organic). They vinify using indigenous yeasts, and there are no additions except for between 0-30ppm SO2 just prior to bottling. If the wines are strong enough and the year is right, sometimes they don’t use SO2 at all – however, their first priority is quality wine. Majority of the cuvées are aged in old barrels for around one year. They never use new oak. The wines then go into tank to settle before being bottled, without fining or filtration.

Demand is huge now, and so allocations are very limited. You will find these wines in the best restaurants and caves in Paris and throughout France, and we are very lucky to have them here in Australia.