Roc Breïa is run by the driven and ambitious Théo Dancer, now also the main man at Domaine Vincent Dancer. Like his father before him, Théo studied at Lycée Viticole de Beaune while working with his father part-time. He joined the domaine full-time in 2021 and is already making a significant impact. In addition to his work with his father, Théo has this exciting new project in the Mâconnais (Roc Breïa) and has also started his own eponymous micro-négoce, sourcing fruit from several exciting vineyards across northern France. He is a talented young man, in a hurry.

In 2021, Théo was invited to visit a mature vineyard in the Bray district of the Mâconnais. The vineyard had recently been purchased by two investors, one of whom was the courtier who used to sell the vineyard’s crop in the past. The vineyard (pictured above) is a 10-hectare block on a limestone slope. Dancer immediately saw the potential and agreed to manage the project, but only on the condition that he would control the whole affair. The name of the new project is Roc Breïa.

Taking over immediately, with the help of full-time vigneron Bastien Cubillé, Dancer has begun to sculpt the vineyard up to his standards, bringing the soils and vines back into balance, planting cover crops and cultivating inter-vine, etc. In the cellar, winemaking is very simple. The Chardonnay is whole bunch pressed and the wine ferments in used 500-litre barrels, and the Pinot Noir is vinified with some 50% whole bunch. The wines are bottled unfiltered and the only sulphur added is at bottling: a tiny 20 mg/L.The wines are results from a selection of the finest barrels, with Dancer eliminating anything he doesn’t like from the final blend. Instead of taking the Mâcon-Bray appellation, Dancer has chosen to label the wine Vin de France, so he has no restrictions in terms of picking dates.