Les Horées

Since her maiden vintage of 2019 was launched, Catharina Sadde has shot to fame, and is now one of the most in-demand names in Burgundy. Lay & Wheeler has championed her pioneering work at Les Horées since the beginning. We are so proud to collaborate with her on this fantastic project, raising awareness and much needed funding for a cause that is close to both Catharina, and our Burgundy buyer, Catherine Jaën MW’s, hearts: Chefs in Schools, funding better food for children.

Before setting out on her own, Catharina had worked for Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Domaine Comte Armand, Domaine Comte de Vogüe, Marquis d’Angerville, and Cécile Tremblay - she has one of the most impressive Burgundy CVs out there. It’s no wonder her’s quickly became the cellar at which everyone wanted an appointment. Her first three vintages cemented her as a star of new wave Burgundy.

It takes a uniquely fearless determination for an outsider to set up on their own in Burgundy. But fear never got in the way for Catharina. She had cut her teeth as a chef in Michelin-starred kitchens in her native Germany, before a career change and a degree from Germany’s most prestigious wine school, Geisenheim, led her to Burgundy.

After training with the best over the past decade, and building up her contact list in notoriously territorial Burgundy, she had the chance to buy her first vineyard in 2018 - Beaune Les Prévolles. Since then she has built up the range to include many more cuvées from her own vineyards, and from grapes she buys from like-minded growers who share her vineyard philosophy.

She is an enthusiastic practitioner of biodynamics and low-intervention winemaking. She has a penchant for low-sulphur and whole-bunch work in the cellar, though everything is done with a sensitive moderation. Her wines have a purity and dexterity about them that is truly captivating.

Her wines are so highly sought-after that the rest of the 2022s will be on allocation only following the major Burgundy 2022 campaign in January 2024. This is your chance to snap up a true one-off, on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are a Cellar Circle member, watch out for the email and link on 24 November in your inbox.

2022 Pommard, La Rue au Port

This is a true one-off. It’s the first time Catharina has released anything in magnum; it’s the only 2022 from Les Horées which will not be on strict allocation; and the entire production has been bottled exclusively for Lay & Wheeler in magnums to raise money for Chefs in Schools, so this is the only place in the world you can buy this wine.

It’s also the first and only Pommard Catharina has made. It’s a fitting appellation, since her solo journey began in a tiny cellar in Pommard, where she made her first two vintages. Some of the first vineyards she bought are in fact in the village, but being planted with Gamay instead of Pinot Noir, have always gone into her Coteaux Bourguignons cuvée, Mon Poulin.

This is a unique opportunity to buy a complete one-off from one of the most in-demand names in the region.

The fruit was hand picked and gently pressed, with 80% whole-bunch fruit in the blend. The wine then spent eight months in ex-Domaine de la Romanée Conti barrels (no less), before being bottled exclusively in magnum format.

The wine is juicy, fragrant, delicate and hugely approachable. Its luminous fruit and crystalline length are a far cry from rustic, tannic, broad-shouldered Pommards of the past. There are cranberry-scented, fine-grained tannins, and a beautiful, saline length.

The wine will be released at £200 per magnum, including duty and VAT. 100% of net sale proceeds will be donated to Chefs in Schools.

Chefs in Schools:

Chefs in Schools is on a mission to transform child health school by school, class by class, plate by plate. They train professional chefs to cook real food from scratch in school kitchens, reversing the tide of ultra-processed foods and inspiring children about the benefits of eating and cooking real food.

It was founded by Henry Dimbleby (former government advisor and author of the National Food Strategy) and chef Nicole Pisani (Nopi) in 2019, the same year as Les Horées. This year they received the BBC Food and Farming Awards’ Derek Cooper Outstanding Achievement Award for their exceptional work. They are currently in over seventy schools, and are having an impact on the lives of thousands of children. With this funding they can continue to reach more and more schools, children, and families.

https://chefsinschools.org.uk/

Cellar Circle:

Cellar Circle is the best way to build a wine portfolio with us. Members work with a personal advisor to buy, store, sell and drink fine wine, and in turn receive special benefits.

Membership starts from £100 a month, all of which goes to building your cellar. You can spend it as you wish, and there are no hidden fees. With a Fine Wine Advisor on hand to guide you, and exclusive access to limited parcels like these, you’ll be able to buy, sell, store and enjoy some of the world’s best wines for years to come.

Find out more here https://www.laywheeler.com/cellar-circle