At the Origins of Our Heritage
- 1604
The Lequin family were farmers in Santenay (civil records of Santenay, Archives of the Dijon Library).
- 1669
Philibert Lequin purchased a vineyard in the locality known as “Les Clos Genet” in Santenay and went into debt—along with his son and grandson—for 120 years. They stopped repaying in 1789, the year of the French Revolution (royal deed in our possession).
- 1734
Antoine Lequin became a winegrower for the Hospices of Autun. He was responsible for pruning, hoeing, tying, trimming, harvesting and winemaking, while also tending his own vineyards.
- 1852
Louis-Isidore Lequin built the family house and founded the estate. He worked the vines during the growing season and, in winter, laboured in the silica sand mines at the top of the Santenay hill, where the sand was used for glassmaking. With the income from the mine, he expanded the estate by purchasing additional vineyards.
He also began trading in Burgundy snails, gathered in the vineyards by the village children.
Un siècle d’évolution
- 1920
Lucien Lequin, my great-grandfather, managed the estate. A pioneer of bottling, he began selling wine directly to customers. In 1938, together with his son Jean, he purchased vines in the “Bâtard-Montrachet”.
- 1945
Jean Lequin, my grandfather, took over the family estate with his wife Laure after studying at HEC in Paris and serving in the Second World War.
He developed bottled wine sales and expanded into export markets, particularly the United States. In 1950, he shipped his wines to the Waldorf Astoria in New York. He extended the estate and acquired a vineyard in Aloxe-Corton: “Les Corton-Charlemagne”.
- 1969
Louis Lequin and his brother took over the family estate. They built a new winery suited to the size of the vineyard holdings, developed new markets, and added two more appellations: “Pommard” and “Nuits-Saint-Georges”.
- 1993
Louis Lequin and his wife Cécile took over half of the family estate, adding their own vineyards to it.
- 2004
After studying viticulture at Mâcon-Davayé and Beaune, Antoine Lequin joined the estate, learning the family’s winemaking secrets from his father.
He carried out his first “solo” vinification in 2009, following his father’s retirement.
