The Domaine Naudin-Ferrand History
1500
Our ancestors, the Naudin, live in Nantoux. They are laborers in the vineyards
1850 - Three Naudin Brothers
The first two marry two sisters, the third one stays alone, as there is no third sister. He will marry another woman but will never be happy. At his death, he bequeaths his vines to the village of Magny-lès-Villers.
40 years later, one of their descendant, Louis Naudin, an orphan, is raised in Ladoix with his uncles who initiates him to the pig trade and the work in the vineyard. He marries Amélie Bonnardot, from Magny-lès-Villers. He is a successful merchant, earns a good living and, around 1892, builds in Magny a nice house... the one you see in our logo.
In 1896, they have a son, Henri Naudin Sr. Like his father, he has two activities: suckling pigs and wine making. Clearly he prefers the wine making activities.
1922 - Claire and Henri
IN 1922, Henri marries Claire Deroye, the daughter of wealthy farmers in the Auxois plains. Claire discovers the work of the vineyard but she has a lot of energy and entrepreneurship. She will encourage her husband to plant more vines and buy more land.
Claire would like him to buy Cordons, even Aloxe-Corton. They can afford those prestigious acquisitions but Henri is concerned by the distance traveled by horse. He prefers to stay on the village of Magny. He knows the family history and buys back some of the lands bequeathed by his ancestor to the village. They are abandoned but he knows he will do something with them.
The good years, he sells his wines as far as the Loire region under the label Henri Naudin-Deroye.
They have two daughters, Jeanne who will work all of her live in the vineyard, and Marie-Thérèse, who will leave the domain, then one son, Henri (Jr.)
Claire and Henri will transmit to their son their passion for wine. He will quickly follow their footsteps in the vineyard and the wine. He does not care much for school that he abandons early. In 1947 at 16, he makes his first wine with his father. He learns much with other young people from the area who want to progress in their trade. Little by little, he buys his own parcels, and plants his first vines.
1964 - Liliane et Henri
In 1964 he marries Liliane Ferrand, from Chamboeuf, above Gevrey-Chambertin and sells his wine with the Naudin-Ferrand label. Indeed, Henri Naudin Sr. keeps making and selling his own wines with his own vines, until his passing.
Liliane quickly stops working in the vineyard to take care of her three daughters, and to assume the responsibility of welcoming private customers, a clientele developing slowly but regularly. The first mailing of Liliane, in 1974, was 70 names long, all hand written on a piece of paper covered on both sides with Liliane small handwriting.
Henri is a hard worker, and at the end of the sixties, he plans to reclaim another plot "en Bully", on the land of his ancestors. This is the birth of the Orchis Mascula, or at least its vineyard that will give this wine 40 years later in 1998.
1989-1990 Anne, Marie or Claire?
Liliane and Henri have three daughters, Anne, Marie and Claire: no man to take the domain?
IN 1989 Henri is ready to break the domain apart: what to do with three daughters, two of which in higher education studies? But in 1990 there is a ray of hope.
- Marie works at the domain to handle administrative tasks, but ultimately she prefers her living as an artist.
- Anne is interested and announces that she is coming back
- Claire is finishing her education and is also interested in returning to the domain
1991 - Claire Naudin
After the vinification 1991 in Magny under her father's supervision, and a 5 month internship in Australia in 1992, then a degree in agronomy and one in oenology, Claire returns definitively to the domain in June 1992.
In September 1993, Henri decides that CLaire will lead the team. She discover suddenly a new dimension in her job. In January 1994 CLaire settles definitively at the domain to take full charge of it. The EARL Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand is established with Claire as the Manager. Three months later, Henri retires.
In 1997 it is Liliane's turn to retire. In 1999 Claire buys back her parent's shares in the domain and becomes the sole owner.
Anne works at the domain between 1989 and 1992, then 1995 and 2001, and again from July 2006 to June 2007. Today, she is an independent consultant active in the wine business , with her company Oenalia.
Marie returns to the domain in 2007. Claire, expecting her third son, not in good health, has called her for hemp. Marie assumes the responsibility for receiving the private customers, the exhibits, some of the administrative work, and works in the vineyard in peak periods.
Claire continues to manage the domain, while rearing her three sons (2002, 2004 and 2007).
Anne has two sons, and Marie one son and one daughter.
2009 - The team
Today, Claire manages a team of 7 full time people:
- Chantal: in charge of administration and accounting. She is the voice answering the phone for us, and works also in the wine exhibits.
- Marie manages the private customers and the groups, works on exhibits, and some of the production work.
- Emmanuel: the technical team supervisor
- Gael: in charge of the cellar
- Jean-Louis: with us for more than 20 years
- Gaetan: who joined the team in 2008
- Mima: doing all the manual work on a 3,5 ha vineyard away from Magny.
Liliane and Henri officially retired are never too far away
- Liliane takes care of her grand children when the mothers are working on the domain, and occasionally answers the phone. She is also of great help during the harvest
- Henri still talks to the clients visiting the domain, and continue to provide worthy advises.
2002/2007 - Some departures
Jeanne, Henri's sister, who worked all her live on the domain, mainly in the vineyard. She passed away in 2002 but we think about her often
René was part of the team for 25 years. He started very young, as the second employee of Henri. He passed away in 2003.
Gaby worked for 36 years in the domain, an exceptionally long career. Very capable, he was Henri's first employee. Henri told of him "He could have worked for his own domain but chose to for me as he would have done for him. Today he is retired.
2009 - A Structure for the Future
Today, and for the last 15 years, the domain is managed by a woman, and it is a constant challenge. It took a lot of adaptation to allow Claire to free time for her family. Chantal and Emmanuel had to take additional responsibilities.
In 2007, Claire was sick for a long period, but the domain kept on working, showing that the team is performing.
All this has a cost: capable employees are costly, so is careful work, with no compromises. On this domain, everybody receives a salary. And Claire's husband has his own domain, so he will not help on Sundays. The children are still too young, and the parents have already contributed sufficiently in the past.
The domain works like any other business. Unfortunately this is not the case everywhere. Some of the labor is unpaid at many domains: spouses, children, relatives... which allows to sell the wine for less, but can create serious issues because if one of the free resources is missing, the economics of those domains do not allow for the hiring of a paid replacement with the same expertise.
Moreover, at the domain, all the vineyards are rented, either to the family or to outside parties. This also has a cost. This is also a difference with other domains that do not pay for their land, and do not have a cost for this capital.
Where is the problem? will you ask. First the wines are sold for less, creating a bias in competition. Second, when there is no sound economic basis, transmission is very difficult, compromising the future as the domains must be broken apart.
At the Domaine Naudin, everything has been done to insure the future. It owns its buildings, its material, its stocks. There is a dynamic and stable team to assume the work load if Claire is not available. And the rental cost of the vineyards is included in the cost of the wines, allowing for a fair price that allows the domain to secure its resources.
And the future is there, as Claire has three children, Marie two and Anne two as well.
