Bourgogne Côte d'Or Vieilles Vignes AOC 2022 1500ml Magnum

A dry Chardonnay of crystalline clarity that carries the power of the 2022 vintage without heaviness. In the glass, medium-bodied straw yellow with green reflections, 13.0% Vol.

The Bourgogne Côte d'Or appellation was only recently introduced and restricts the production zone to the core area of the Côte d'Or. All parcels for this wine border Meursault, two of them lying directly below the Premier Cru site Les Charmes. The guiding theme of the estate is Meursault's limestone soils. Fertilisation has been exclusively organic for around 30 years; synthetic fertilisers and pesticides disappeared in 1994, herbicides in 1998. The rows are cover-cropped and worked by hand, and cordon pruning keeps yields low.

Chardonnay from old vines. Grapes picked in the morning are pressed for at least six hours, those picked in the afternoon often for twelve hours overnight, always with the gentlest possible pressure. Ageing takes around 15 months in 600-litre foudres from cooper Stockinger, made of French, Austrian and Slavonian oak, after which the wine rests in tank. Only about a fifth of the barrels are renewed each year. The large volume slows oxygen exchange, keeping toasted aromas at bay. The wine is bottled unfiltered, its stability coming from two winters of ageing.

On the nose, lemon oil, lemon blossom and lemon balm, along with Granny Smith apple skin and grated lime zest. The entry is crystal-clear and finely cut, with vibrant acidity and an almost powdery-fine phenolic structure that lends pace. Powerful and intense, the wine runs into a saline, cool finish.

Vegetable terrine with tarragon sour cream, freshwater fish terrine with dill sour cream or rabbit terrine with chervil sour cream.

The 1500 ml magnum format gives the wine more time in the bottle.