Domaine H (Sukhwan Ha)

By Ryan Lim

Perched on the steep, east-facing slopes of Chignin, Domaine H is the new project of Sukhwan Ha, a Korean-born, sommelier-turned-vigneron who transitioned from a distinguished front-of-house career to winemaking in 2023. He tends old vines across Chignin’s high terraces and works parcel by parcel to preserve freshness and minerality.

Before becoming a vigneron, Sukhwan made his name in Lyon — notably as chef-sommelier and owner of Le Passe-Temps, one of the very first restaurants in the region to earn a Michelin star while championing low-intervention, terroir-focused wines. He later launched an import business in Korea, bringing key names to Korean sommeliers and collectors, including Emmanuel Overnoy, Octavin, Pascal Côtat, and Thierry Allemand.

When the restaurant was forced to shutter its doors during COVID, Sukhwan used the time to visit vineyards, which led him to pursue winemaking training in Beaune. He later completed an internship with Emmanuel Overnoy — experience that decisively shaped his winemaking path.

At Domaine H, the focus remains on varieties that suit Chignin’s steep, high-altitude calcareous slopes: Roussanne, in particular, shows tensile minerality in his hands, while Jacquère and Mondeuse are cultivated to maintain lively acidity and modest levels of alcohol. Sukhwan’s parcels sit between roughly 400–500 m; the vines had been without herbicides for many years before his arrival, and he began an organic transition in 2023 while testing biodynamic treatments on select plots. Sukhwan’s first vintage was 2023; the 2024 bottlings were released without added sulfites, and several whites saw élevage in used barrels and demi-muids sourced from producers such as Pascal Côtat.

Sukhwan’s winemaking is deliberate and lucid. Tasting through the bottled 2023 and 2024 releases—alongside 2025 parcels just finishing fermentation—reveals a coherent stylistic arc; a sommelier’s sensibility applied to terroir work, yielding bright, saline whites and lightly handled, quietly expressive reds that speak more of place than technique. Despite having only three vintages behind him, Sukhwan shows both a clear vision, as well as the practical means to reach it. Domaine H is at a remarkably promising first chapter — a project worth watching closely.