A F Gros and Domaine Parent. The union of these two domaines came about when Francois Parent married Anne-Francoise Gros. Francois had been making the wines of his father's estate, Jacques Parent since 1974 but when they married he decided to take his share of the vineyards (the rest remained with his two sisters) and combined them with those of his wife. Since then Francois has been the winemaker for both domaines which retained their own identities.
The A F Gros vineyards are located around Vosne Romanee while the Parent vineyards are in Pommard where the family traces to the original Francois who was born in 1615. Between the labels there are 16 crus that come from grapes grown on 10.06 hectares of total vineyard area. The two grand crus are Echezeaux and Richebourg, the latter being made by Anne-Francoise brother Michel up until 1996 when Francois Parent took over. His intention is to get maximum extraction of aromas with typicity - the wines are generous.
Francois ferments his wines in a mix of cement, stainless steel and wooden vats and uses new oak liberally, buying some of the best and most expensive available; 50% for the village wines, 70% for premier crus and 100% for grand crus plus two Pommard premier crus Rugiens and Epenots. The style of wines varies from cru to cru but they represent a common theme of high quality which remains true from vintage to vintage.
