click on one of the vintages below for further information
VARIETAL
Chardonnay is the grape variety for Viré-Clessé wines :
- 8,000 plants/hectare
- Pruning: Mâconnais "queue"
- Harvested by hand
- Yield: 50 hl/hectare
TASTING NOTES
- A bright light yellow colour.
- Nose of white fruit (peach) and white flowers aromas.
- Fresh and smooth on the palate with beautiful roundness or smoothness. The wine shows good vivacity and concentration.
FOOD AND WINE PAIRING
Drink with fish in sauce, terrine, salmon pie, white meats, mushrooms in creamy sauce, quiches, pie or French Comté or Swiss Cheese.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Serve ideally at 12-13°C. (54°F).
AGEING POTENTIAL
Drink now or store in the cellar for the next 3 to 5 years.
ORIGIN
Recognised in 1998 and receiving the official new appellation a year later, Viré-Clessé is the first communal appellation from the remarkable terroirs within the wider AOC Macon-Villages.
Viré and Clessé are two villages situated in Southern Burgundy between Tournus and Macon. With the style of their wines being so similar, a single appellation was chosen.
VINIFICATION AND MATURING
The grapes were pressed in a pneumatic press.
The alcoholic fermentation was carried out in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks and completed at 100% before the bottling in Burgundy bottles. Ageing on fine lies for 8 to 10 months in tank for the major part (80%) of the cuvée and in oak barrels for the other part.
Vintage : 2021
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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