Burgundy is not a region that traditionally rewards outsiders. It favours heritage, family lineage, and surnames that look suitably at home carved into the hallowed stones of its famed clos. Which is precisely why Jane Eyre’s rise to the top remains one of the most improbable and charming stories to emerge from a region that can often feel like a living postcard from a Douce France of yesteryear.
Jane, after all, did not grow up among the storied vines of the Côte d’Or. Her career began rather differently: she trained as a hairdresser in Australia. This is not, historically speaking, the usual prelude to becoming a highly respected Burgundian négociant. But normal is boring, right? Jane certainly seems to think so.
After falling in love with Burgundy while doing work experience at Domaine Chevrot in 1998, the pull of the region’s world-famous terroir proved irresistible. Before long, she packed her bags, swapped sunny Melbourne for Burgundy’s cooler climes, and fully committed to a region famously unforgiving to hot-shot upstarts — a leap of faith that has since been richly rewarded.
Safe to say that after years of hard work, humility, and an almost obsessive attention to detail, Jane has more than cemented her place as one of Burgundy’s true icons. When we first met her at the Hungry Cyclist Lodge in Auxey-Duresses back in 2015, her wines had surprisingly little presence in the UK which struck us as utterly baffling.
Even then, the wines already carried a clear signature: lifted aromatics, crystalline fruit, restraint, and a compelling sense of place. Trusting our vinous instincts, we jumped at the chance to introduce them to the UK. To our delight, we’ve since watched a loyal following grow among Club Members over the past decade, many of whom have fallen head over heels for the floral elegance and quiet charm of Jane’s wines.
Critical acclaim has, quite rightly, followed. Jane became the first woman (and the first foreigner) to be named RVF Négociant of the Year, has since earned her second RVF star, and continues to attract glowing reviews from the likes of Jancis Robinson, Tim Atkin, and Neal Martin.
Luckily for all of us, the 2024 vintage feels particularly well suited to Jane’s signature style. It was a cooler, wetter year than usual, with yields around half those of 2023, making it a vintage that quickly exposes winemakers who rely too heavily on extraction or make-up. That is very much not the case here. Jane has produced wines of precision and clarity, firmly rooted in terroir, with delicate floral notes and pure, red-fruited elegance — essentially everything we’ve always loved about her wines.
Across both the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, her 2024s show a natural freshness and an effortless sense of place. Cooler vintages have a way of revealing a vineyard’s true character, and these wines do exactly that. The two new Premier Crus in particular — Volnay Mitans and Beaune Grèves — stood out as highlights of our recent tastings.
Our relationship with Jane has grown well beyond simply buying and selling her wines. Over the years, we’ve worked with her on Hospices de Beaune barrels, shared countless tastings, and hosted multiple dinners and events together, both online and in person. Now working from her own winery in Cissey, just above Volnay, it’s been a real pleasure to witness her continued growth, and one we’re genuinely proud to support by offering her wines.
The irony, of course, is that while Jane’s path into Burgundy was wildly unconventional, the wines themselves are anything but. They are elegant, transparent and built to age. Jane Eyre may not boast a Burgundian family lineage stretching back centuries, but she is unquestionably at home among the vines of the Côte d’Or.
