In 1990, in the cellar of Domaine Comte Armand in Pommard, a new friendship was forged through a mutual love of Pinot Noir. This chance meeting would lead to a lifelong friendship and remarkable collaboration between Jeff Burch and Pascal Marchand. This partnership thus began the Marchand & Burch wine collection, which we have the pleasure of enjoying at Subi Spritz.
Jeff Burch, owner of Burch Family Wines, and Pascal Marchand, a Burgundian winemaker, found common ground in their understanding that fine wine should possess the distinctive imprint of its place. This notion is integral to winemaking in Burgundy where they refer to it as ‘terroir’. Jeff and Pascal’s vision was to apply this idea of terroir by working with nature to craft wines that best express the vineyards on which they were grown.
With Pascal’s Burgundian experience and Jeff’s fruit sourcing knowledge, they began by producing fine wines from the Mount Barrow vineyard in Western Australia’s Great Southern. With some of the world’s oldest recorded geology, imposing granite outcrops, and a cool maritime climate, Great Southern presented a distinct terroir, promising for the cultivation of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. To this day, the ‘Australian Collection’ wines dazzle due to this unique geology.
In 2007, Burgundian wines were added to the label under the ‘French Collection’. While the Burgundian wines give consumers an opportunity to explore this cornerstone of fine wine, the ‘Australian Collection’ demonstrates that a focus on terroir can yield wine of great quality from WA. It was this special link between Europe and Australia that made Marchand & Burch a natural pick for Subi Spritz, a celebration of Subi’s Southern European roots.
You can taste Marchand & Burch’s profound take on terroir for yourself when you join us at this year’s Subi Spritz. Shop directly from Marchand & Burch’s online store or, pop by Subi Cellarbrations at and pick up a bottle of the Crémant de Bourgogne NV, Village Rose, Mount Barker Chardonnay or Mount Barrow Pinot Noir!
