100% Chardonnay.
Will perfectly accompanies light starters, poultry and white meats, or cheeses such as dry goat cheese or a blue cheese such as the French “Bleu de Bresse”.
Serve at around 12-14 °C. / 54-57°F.
This wine can be consumed now or laid down in a cellar for the next 3 years.
The Mâcon-Chardonnay appellation, which shares its name with the famous Chardonnay grape, is produced not only in the commune of Chardonnay, but also in the villages of Ozenay, Plottes and Tournus. The inhabitants of Chardonnay claim that their village gave its name to the Burgundy grape variety. What is certain is that ‘Chardonnay’ comes from the Latin ‘Cardus’, meaning thistle, a plant that thrives in the limestone soils characteristic of this village. This terroir produces a remarkable wine with an explosive, mouth-watering bouquet, marked by the natural tension of the soil. The Jurassic-age soils are calcareous brown, marly and clayey-siliceous. In Chardonnay, the vines face due south, while in the other communes they face east and west.
Nature certainly set a challenge for the winegrower and the winemaker with this vintage. It began with very warm temperatures at the end of February which led to an early bud break.
The historic frost in April then destroyed young shoots that had emerged too early, significantly affecting the future harvest. Changing weather continued to characterize the vintage through to the harvests. There were spells of rain from May to mid-August, obliging winegrowers to be constantly on the alert.
The only periods of relative calm were during flowering, which took place in good conditions for the formation of the future fruit, and the véraison (colour change), which benefited from the return of the sun from mid-August. The vagaries of the weather contributed to the development of outbreaks of disease, which were contained thanks to the tireless efforts of our winegrowers. In spite of this, considerable sacrifices had to be made to ensure a high level of quality, and rigorous sorting of the fruit in the vineyard and on arrival at the winery was necessary.
This vintage also required a major technical effort. The vinifications had to be carried out with meticulous attention and precision. We took particular care over the extraction of colouring matter, the balance of the structure and the aromatic expression of our red wines, and of the freshness, balance of acidity and aromatic potential of our white wines.
From the first tastings, this vintage presented excellent flavour and aroma potential, and the balance of acidity was contained. The wines are less sunny, revealing a more moderate character, lighter in terms of alcohol and in tannic structure.
These are wines that will assert their personalities by offering a diverse palette of flavours and textures, like the growing season.
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