Mâcon-Verzé Climat "Les Perches" AOC 2024

A still-youthful Chardonnay that shows chalk first and fruit only afterwards. Cool, taut and mouth-watering, with a depth that calls for the decanter. Pouring it straight from bottle to glass only tells half the story.

Les Perches is a single parcel in the village of Verzé in Burgundy. The soil is shell limestone, the site sits at 230 metres altitude, and the vines have stood there for 40 to 50 years. Both show through in the wine: pull from the limestone, concentration from the age of the vines.

Pure Chardonnay, hand-harvested on 19 September 2024. Fermentation was 100% with wild yeasts in barrique, with no fining and minimal use of sulphur. The oak doesn't take centre stage; it gives the wine its frame. Jean-Philippe and Jean-Guillaume Bret took over Domaine La Soufrandière in 2000 and founded Bret Brothers in 2001, to also vinify grapes from growers working organically or biodynamically. For Chardonnay from the Mâconnais, they run their own négociant project.

The opening is chalky, cool and taut. As it opens up, apple, pear, a refreshing note of cucumber, along with dry pastry and aniseed emerge. Lively acidity carries the pale fruit, while saline notes and a subtle tannin provide structure. The impression stays cool and mouth-watering.

Only 3,240 bottles from this single parcel. The wine is dry, at 12.5% vol. The combination of hand-harvesting, spontaneous fermentation in barrique, no fining and minimal sulphur keeps the chalky origin unfiltered in the glass.