From North Berkeley Imports: The petite town of Chitry is starting to make waves among the sommelier and restaurant set, as a source of top-notch Burgundian Chardonnay and Pinot Noir — and the name on everyone’s lips is Olivier Morin.

Since 1992, when he left a life in the music industry to take over the family domaine, essentially trading in his turntables for a tractor, Olivier has never looked back.

Crucially, the vineyards of Chitry (she-TREE) share exactly the same chalky, Kimmeridgian soils as Chablis. Yet unlike with many laisser-faire Chablis producers, Olivier and his wife, Nelly, are detailed and diligent, caring for their older vines organically, as well as fermenting on indigenous yeasts and adding but homeopathic doses of sulfur at bottling.

These are wines that transcend this modest appellation with their resonant flavors and stunning complexity, and what’s more, offer outstanding value.

Olivier Morin tends some 30 acres of land in the department of the Yonne, between Auxerre and Chablis. The medieval village of Chitry-le-Fort is the center of the small Bourgogne Chitry appellation, and just a stone’s throw from the village of Chablis. Indeed, here the soils are also identical to those in Chablis—Kimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone, very chalky and mineral-rich.

The estate is not certified but adheres to organic farming practices, including fermenting on indigenous yeasts, planting natural herbs between vineyard rows to prevent erosion and using only organic fertilizer in the fields. The soil is plowed to encourage vine roots to dig deep into the region’s chalky soils; vines, on average, are 30 years old.

Olivier’s cellar is located partially underground, allowing him to move juice and wine via gravity. Whites are fermented and aged in stainless steel tank; reds are aged mostly in older French oak barrels. Very little sulfur is added at any step in the winemaking process, and wines are bottled unfiltered.

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