Born in Lecco and shaped by Burgundy, Antonio Quari did not set out to make wine. He arrived in the Côte d’Or for a single harvest in 2010 and never left. What began as a curiosity and a temporary escape from bar work in London, soon became a vocation at Domaine Prieuré Roch, the quietly radical estate long guided by Henry-Frédéric Roch. Today, Quari speaks about wine the way others speak about family: with humility, attentiveness and a deep sense of belonging. In the dim light of the cellar, among barrels and shifting vintages, he sees himself less as a winemaker and more as a custodian, or, as he puts it, a midwife to terroir.
WS: You’re originally from Lecco, Italy - how did Burgundy become home?
AQ: It began with a harvest. I wanted to come to Burgundy to experience the harvest and understand how it really worked. In 2010, I joined the harvest at Domaine Prieuré Roch.
What struck me first was the energy. The energy of the people working together. It was incredibly powerful. By the end of the harvest, I found myself asking: do I really want to go back to London and carry on working as a barman? The answer was probably not.
So I applied for a seasonal position at the domaine, planning to stay for a year. I began in the vineyards, then in the cellar: racking, learning, observing. Burgundy didn’t become home straight away. You arrive from another country, doing a job completely different from your previous life. It takes time.
Little by little, the domaine became like a family to me. After the second harvest and vinification in 2011, I signed a permanent contract and decided to stay. Since then, I’ve simply tried to give my best to the domaine.
It was the people who kept me there. The magic of the cellar, the dim light, the barrels, the history of Burgundy unfolding around me. You can work anywhere, but the people won’t be the same. That’s what made me stay.
WS: How has the vineyard changed you as a person?
AQ: It changed me for the better. Making wine is a completely different world. I used to work behind a bar, wearing a shirt; suddenly I was in boots, working alone in the cellar. That shift changes you.
It changes the way you think. You become more aware of the rhythm around you - the seasons, the people, the work. Slowly but surely, the domaine becomes the centre of your life. When you grow up inside Domaine Prieuré Roch, you become part of something. It becomes family. It becomes part of you.
When you reach that point, it no longer feels like work. And that makes you a better person.
WS: What did Henry-Frédéric Roch teach you that still guides you today?
AQ: Henry-Frédéric Roch was not someone who would tell you, “Do this, do that.” Not with everyone. You had to spend time with him. If you listened between the lines, you understood.
You understood the idea, and then you adapted yourself.
He taught me humility. To be yourself. And to believe in the wine and in the terroir.
WS: How do you see the evolution of Domaine Prieuré Roch after Henry-Frédéric Roch?
AQ: For me, there is no before and after Henry. It’s a continuity. Every year we try to improve. Every year we learn from our mistakes. I don’t believe perfection exists.
It’s about continuity, small adjustments, small changes.
And this goes back to the first question: Domaine Prieuré Roch is the people behind the name. The human beings who work there. That is what continues.
WS: Wine is often described as an expression of place - but in your case, how much of a bottle of Prieuré Roch is also an expression of you?
AQ: I prefer to minimise my role, because at the domaine there is no “winemaker” in the way people usually mean it. I don’t even like the word. It’s not really for me.
We have some of the greatest terroirs in the world - that’s not because of me.
My role is more like a midwife: I help the terroir deliver the wine. Each terroir has its own character. Like children, some are more fragile, some stronger, more structured. It takes time to understand their personality and to offer the best expression of it in our way.
What ends up in the glass is our interpretation of the terroir, not my personality imposed on it.
WS: How do you interpret the terroir?
AQ: First, by being humble in front of it. The wine tells you what it wants; you cannot decide for it.
I cannot taste a wine in barrel and say, “In a year and a half it will be exactly like this.” The only thing I know at that moment is that I don’t know anything. Every vintage is a new story, shaped by the year, the place, the conditions.
Climate change has made everything less stable. It affects viticulture, fermentation, ageing. The challenge is to navigate in the middle of all this, to follow the wine carefully, and still bring the DNA of Prieuré Roch into the glass.
WS: How do you build structure for longevity while maintaining drinkability?
I see each vintage as a chapter in a book. I focus on the harvest, the conditions, the balance, what nature has given us and with that, we play the game. Next year will be another chapter, and we don’t yet know what it will look like.
Some years are very hot and dry like 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 leading to wines being produced at 14%. Then you have a year like 2024, when we lost 85% of the harvest because the rain simply didn’t stop. The weather is becoming more extreme.
So the key is to make the right decisions each year. To look back at our roots, but also keep a vision for the future. It’s about balance between tradition and what lies ahead. That balance is what gives both longevity and drinkability.
