Winemaker Notes
This exotic, unusual white wine is rich and spicy, with broad fruit flavors and notes of almonds, earth and toasted oak. It will develop for at least seven years in the bottle.
Pair with fish in white sauce, shellfish or cured meats.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has aromas of lemons, apricots stones, cream and acacia flowers. Very clear cut and balanced, with plenty of creamy texture. Mineral, fresh finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Le Clos Blanc (Domaine Gagey) opens in the glass with aromas of pear, freshly baked bread, honeycomb and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it's combines texture and tension to compelling effect.
Barrel Sample: 90-92
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.
While the city represents the epicenter of wine production in Burgundy, the term, “Beaune” also refers to the specific sub-appellation of the greater Côte de Beaune, whose vineyards climb up the pastoral slopes that border the city to its west. Originally founded as a Roman camp by Julius Caesar, the city of Beaune eventually became the seat of the dukes of Burgundy until the 13th century. Today it is home to top négociants such as Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, and Bouchard Père et Fils.
The appellation, dominated by Pinot Noir plantings, represents a lovely and charming place to begin to understand red Burgundy. Its sandy soils create light and supple, floral driven Pinot Noir. These wines are designed to be enjoyed within five to 10 years. The vineyards of Beaune span a broad swath of Premier Crus from Savigny-lès-Beaune to its border with Pommard.
Chardonnay acreage here has been increasing here in the more recent years.