Numa Cornut

Numa’s journey into winemaking started in 2008 when he took the reins of his family’s Chateau Guiot in the southern Rhone Valley. With a degree in viticulture and oenology, Numa’s educational background as an agricultural engineer laid the foundation for his career. Before returning to Burgundy, he gained diverse experiences globally and had the opportunity to refine his skills in prestigious wine regions such as Pessac Leognan in Bordeaux, which equipped him with a unique perspective that sets his wines apart.

The start of the Burgundy journey.

In 2010, Numa took on the role of a viticultural consultant in Burgundy. During this time, he forged a deep friendship with a young winemaker in Meursault and Pommard. The connection continued even after Numa’s return to Chateau Guiot, where he provided consulting services to his Burgundian friend. In 2021, this friendship led to a joint venture in Burgundy, where Numa’s wines are now vinified in the heart of Beaune, the capital of Burgundy. This collaboration fulfils Numa’s long-held dreams of making wines from Burgundy. Today, he spent his time between the family estate in southern Rhone Valley and his personal project in Burgundy.

The Burgundian vineyards, though smaller and diverse in appellations, are treated as naturally as possible.

Recognising the challenges of the local climate, Numa strategically manages the vines to preserve the harvest without compromising quality. With 3.5 hectares under his care, he maintains a “fun” size to ensure a focus on quality over quantity. The vineyards are located on the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits, including appellations like Meursault, Pommard, Volnay, Bligny les Beaunes, Cotes de Nuits Villages, Nuits Saint Georges and Vosne Romanee.

Working with indigenous yeasts, Numa embraces the unique mosaic of Burgundian terroirs, emphasising terroir over extraction. The clay-limestone terroir of Cote de Beaune results in wines with minerality, red fruit aromas, and freshness, while the Cote de Nuits, with its higher clay content, produces deeper, darker-fruit wines with more significant density and tannic structure.

In the cellar, Numa uses as little new oak as possible, the wines are aged patiently to allow their unique character to shine. Refraining from filtration preserves the specific aroma of each terroir.

Drawing inspiration from his experiences in Europe and Australia, as well as the ancestral knowledge passed down by his parents, Numa crafts wines that are the expressions of his wine-making journey — a journey that spans generations and continents, rooted in Burgundy’s timeless terroir.