Winemaker Notes
Bright color, yellow gold with golden highlights. Strong aromatic intensity. The nose is rich and well opened, with notes of exotic fruits and white flowers, notes of caramel and vanilla on a background of toasted bread. Fresh on the palate, an opulent body, smooth and round. At the finish, a good aromatic persistence of the fruit, united with a good balance between the acidity and the roundness.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An excellent Bourgogne blanc that has plenty of depth and structure for the category, but also plenty of Amalfi lemon and lime zest character. I love the chalky minerality that comes through at the generous finish. A cuvee of wines from high-altitude estate vineyards in Pernand-Vergelesses that were barrel-fermented, plus grapes from Cotes Chalonnais and Macon that were vinified in stainless steel.
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.
The most acclaimed region of Burgundy, the Côte d’Or is defined by a long, limestone escarpment beneath the ground's surface and is home to all of Burgundy’s most famous wines. While Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are produced throughout the Côte d’Or, the north tends to excel at Pinot Noir and the south, at Chardonnay.
The northern half of the Côte d’Or is called the Côte de Nuits. Here reside most of the Pinot noir Grands Crus vineyards of Burgundy—the only one farther south, in Côte de Beaune, is Aloxe-Corton.
The Côte de Beaune is the center all of the Chardonnay Grands Crus with the exception of Le Musingy, found in Chambolle-Musigny in the Côte de Nuits, which produces both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with Grand Cru status.