Domaine Jaeger-Defaix

Winegrowers since the 16th century, the Niepce family owns Premier Cru vineyards in the Rully appellation. In October 2002, Henriette Niepce bequeathed a plot of Rully Premier Cru Mont-Palais white to her grandniece, Hélène Jaeger (wife of Didier Defaix of Domaine Bernard Defaix in Chablis). This plot is part of an estate entirely located in Rully Premier Cru whites and reds, which Hélène wanted to take over in its entirety in order to perpetuate the winemaking tradition of her Niepce ancestors, winegrowers since the 16th century. 

Henri Niepce, his great-grandfather, was one of the leading figures inthe Rully appellation. He worked tirelessly in the 1930s and 1940s to obtain the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) designation for Rully and then to establish the reputation of the fledgling AOC. Located in the Côte Chalonnaise, south of the Côte de Beaune, the Rully vineyard now covers 330 hectares (220 hectares of white and 110 hectares of red), of which only 100 hectares are premier cru reds and whites.