Winemaker Notes
This is comprised of village level fruit from those vineyards that do not go into a single vineyard bottling. Good linear mineral expression with very round, buttery fruit.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Shows a ripe passion fruit aroma, with a floral edge and a ripe, lush texture on the palate. Lafon is the owner of the Château de Clessé, with a number of parcels that total nearly 6ha planted in fairly deep clay soils, and some of the vines were planted in the 1950s. This is an early-ripening terroir, but the grapes were picked early and do not exceed 13% potential alcohol. Fermentation was done in large oak foudres and demi-muids.
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.
Inhabiting the best of the upper half of the Mâconnais, Viré-Clessé, created from the delineation of the two top Mâcon Villages, produces lively, charming and full-bodied whites (of Chardonnay). Lemon balm, verbena, white peach, and mint evolve with graceful age to quince jam, spice, pine and brown butter. The aromatic intensity of Viré-Clessé suits itself to herb-laden poultry, as well as sautéed shrimp or vegetables. It is also the perfect partner to Camembert or goat cheese.