Winemaker Notes
Golden yellow appearance. A powerful nose dominated by fresh notes of fruit and citrus. Plain and rich mouth, well concentrated with a mineral and saline finish.
A powerful wine to drink with fish in sauce, spicy or mushroom dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2022 Saint-Véran La Roche (from west-facing, 80-year-old vines that tend never to produce more than 30hL/ha) was picked on August 31, this vintage. It has a clean and precise bouquet, taut and fresh, showing delicate tension with chalk and saline scents. The palate is not unlike the A La Côte but with a little more bite towards the finish. Great length - this leaves the mouth tingling for a minute afterward.
Barrel Sample: 92094 -
Jasper Morris
Old vines on marl, south-west facing at mid slope, a site which does well in a dry year. Matured in barrels. Mid lemon yellow. This is the class act among the St-Véran selection. Admirable intensity but it is the silky elegance of the pure white fruit that sets this apart, and a complex persistent finish.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Occupying vineyards to the west and south of the village of Mâcon, the appellation of St-Véran interweaves with Pouilly-Fuissé, overlapping both the Mâconnais and Beaujolais. St-Véran includes a lot of what was once sold as Beaujolais Blanc. Grown on limestone, St-Véran whites' ageability and power fall somewhere in between the wines of Mâcon-Villages and Pouilly-Fuissé.
After subtle aromas of lemon, apricot, acacia and honeysuckle, on the palate a St-Véran (always made of Chardonnay) shows fresh focus and clarity while exhibiting roundness and harmonious balance. A great St-Véran will express notes of almond, hazelnut, cinnamon, butter or toast and sometimes an exotic twist of orange peel. Seafood risotto or pasta with mushrooms are perfect pairings.