($12, Pasternak Wine Imports): Caves de Lugny, the largest cooperative in Burgundy, controls about one-third of the entire production of the Mâconnais region.  I, unlike many, do not subscribe to the notion that large producers are incapable of making high quality wine.  Indeed, my experience with co-ops suggests quite the opposite.  They have so much wine to choose from that they can stratify them into multiple bottlings under different labels, giving the consumer better value.  La Côte Blanche is a mid-level bottling, nestled between–by about a dollar–their straight Mâcon-Villages and their slightly more upscale, Mâcon-Lugny “Les Charmes.”  The 2013 La Côte Blanche is an easy-to-recommend bargain priced wine, reflecting a creamy fruitiness of Chardonnay rather than the alluring minerality of more notable white Burgundies.  Round enough to stand by itself, it has enough verve to support a take-out rotisserie chicken.
88 Michael Apstein Apr 21, 2015