Denise Dupre’s love affair with France started when her husband, former Bain Capital managing director Mark Nunnelly, proposed in the Burgundy region in 1989. “Sometimes a place grabs you,” she says. “We came back over and over again.” They must have really loved it. Visiting Burgundy has long posed challenges other winemaking regions don’t have: the dearth of luxury accommodations and the Do-Not-Disturb signs that dangle, metaphorically, from the gates of the high-profile wineries tourists want to explore.
With her latest project, Château de la Commaraine in Pommard, she hopes to remove both obstacles. Dupre, whose family ran a ski resort stateside and who taught hospitality management at Harvard, is no hotel-owning dilettante. Indeed, she has already tested the template she’s rolling out here: Seven years ago, her reboot of the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa was a seismic addition to Épernay’s sleepy scene. At the same time, she acquired the site in Burgundy, with a vineyard anchored by a 12th-century castle that had been modified multiple times. Pommard’s long legacy and unique terroir have captivated admirers from Victor Hugo to King Louis XV.
Inside one of the suites.
John Athimaritis
“Commaraine has an incredible history, as it was one of Thomas Jefferson’s favorite wines,” Dupré says. “Knowing our former ambassador to France fell in love with the place? He was onto something.” The finest bottles produced by the new winemaking team she and Nunnelly have hired will be labeled with the TJ marque in his honor.
Renovating and expanding the higgledy-piggledy building—a monumental project that finally will welcome guests in February—will usher in the next chapter in the château’s story. The work even involved tunneling out a basement below the medieval foundations for HVAC and storage, with monitors on every wall to detect shifts in the stones during excavations. Historically, the only truly luxurious way to explore Burgundy was on a barge—Belmond operates several here—but Dupré wanted to offer a wider choice. Accordingly, each of the structure’s 37 rooms has a unique design and its own connection to the estate’s history. There’s the Rotonde suite, in the medieval tower, which looks up at 14th-century rafters, as well as the Matilde suite, named after a Portuguese noblewoman whose life was saved by the knight Jean de Pommard. He received this castle as a thank-you from her husband.
Château de la Commaraine’s 37 guest rooms were designed to reference the building’s history, which dates back to the 12th century.
John Athimaritis
Dupré and her team also hope to open doors to some of the more exclusive wineries here, but you could tap the vivacious, enthusiastic Youri Lebault, of Bourgogne Gold Tour, who has been the go-to guide here for more than 25 years. He drives clients around himself and recommends a two-day itinerary: one for Pinot Noir tasting in the Côte de Nuits and the other to try both Chardonnay and more Pinot Noir in the Côte de Beaune.
The hotel’s own focus on winemaking is highlighted by the location of its cuverie, right next to the main building; one of its two restaurants will have windows looking directly into this production facility. But to get an intimate sense of the land, book the four-bedroom Villa des Vignes, the ultimate perch for any avid Burgundy drinker. The newly constructed building, adjacent to the château, is uniquely immersed in the terroir. “You can open the window and touch the grapes,” says Dupré. “You’re going to want to get up in the middle of the night and check on them.” From about $940
Top from left: An aerial view of Burgundy, France, which until recently has had a lack of luxury accommodations; the center of Beaune, the historic walled city at the heart of the winemaking region.
Authors
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Mark Ellwood