Jean-Paul Pando | Domaine La Mutine

Vezelay - Burgundy | FRANCE

Founded in 2022 by Jean-Paul Pando, Domaine La Mutine is a young, 2.5-hectare estate in the northern Burgundian appellation of Vézelay. After years working in the restaurant world, Jean-Paul retrained in viticulture and oenology, driven by a desire to craft wines of honesty and precision—true to their place, unadorned by artifice.

The vineyards, planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and the rare Melon de Bourgogne, are rooted in shallow clay-limestone soils that lend the wines their hallmark clarity and minerality. Farming is fully organic, carried out by hand with minimal mechanisation, following the rhythm of the seasons. Each parcel is treated individually, with a focus on balance in the vine and biodiversity in the surrounding ecosystem.

In the cellar, Jean-Paul favours spontaneous fermentations with indigenous yeasts, no additions, and minimal sulphur. The wines are neither fined nor filtered, allowing the nuance of site to come through unmasked. His approach yields a range that is both vivid and precise: a bright, supple Pinot Noir; an elegant, mineral-driven Chardonnay from “Les Champs Cadet”; and a taut, saline Melon de Bourgogne rarely seen in this corner of Burgundy.

Domaine La Mutine stands as a quiet but confident voice in Vézelay’s new generation—producing wines of freshness, finesse, and soul, shaped gently by human hands and guided entirely by nature.