Santenay, a village in the Côte de Beaune abutting the southern border of Chassagne-Montrachet, makes far more red wine than white. Guillaume Marko, the winemaker at Domaine du Cellier aux Moines, explains that the sites in northern Santenay, bordering Chassagne-Montrachet where they have their small, 0.25-ha plot, are also especially well-suited for Chardonnay.… Read more

Aligoté, another white grape permitted in Burgundy, used to be planted in Grand Cru sites, like Corton Charlemagne and Montrachet, along with Chardonnay in the 19th century, but has fallen out of favor and now represents only about seven percent of Burgundy’s plantings.… Read more

Domaine du Cellier aux Moines, which owns 5-ha of prime vineyards in Givry and has their state-of-the-art gravity flow winery there, specializes in red wines from that appellation even though Givry can produce whites. For white wines, they have purchased small plots in appellations in the Côte de Beaune, and have long-term farming contracts in Montagny, the source for this wine.… Read more

Containing all of the Grand Cru of Bienvenues-Bâtard Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet and large portions of both Bâtard-Montrachet and Le Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet is the finest source for white wine in all of Burgundy. Les Pucelles, lying just across a narrow road from Bâtard and Bienvenues ranks as one of the village’s top Premier Cru.… Read more

Domaine Faiveley has practically dispensed with its négociant business except for a small amount of Bourgogne Rouge and now focuses on the extensive and well-suited vineyards it owns. Faiveley, one of the largest landowners in Burgundy, owns over 300-acres of vineyards throughout Burgundy, about 100 of which are in Mercurey, giving them a strong presence there.… Read more

Adjacent to the famed Clos du Roi vineyard sits La Mission, another Premier Cru vineyard, but in this case, planted only to Chardonnay and solely owned by the Château de Chamirey. Aurore Devillard, who along with her brother run the Château de Chamirey, explains that they have moved away from small barrels and now use larger, 400-liter ones for the whites.… Read more

Pinot Fin, a high-quality biotype of Pinot Noir, produces smaller berries and thicker skin. It’s even more finicky than most strains of Pinot Noir, so it’s rarely grown in Burgundy today. Domaine Geantet-Pansiot insists on perpetuating it and grows it both in Gevrey-Chambertin, the primary source for this wine, and Marsannay.… Read more

The combination of a top producer, Domaine Geantet-Pansiot, and old vines explains why this is such a great village wine. Founded in 1954, the estate has grown over the decades and now includes more than 32 acres of vines mostly in Gevrey Chambertin, including holdings in the Premier Cru, Le Poissenot, and the Grand Cru, Charmes-Chambertin.… Read more

Domaine de Villaine makes a stunning array of wines from Bouzeron, an appellation for only white wine and one that mandates the use of Aligoté, not Chardonnay. Aubert de Villaine, who was a previous director of Domaine Romanée Conti, oversees the Domaine, and as you might imagine, knows something about making wine from Pinot Noir.… Read more

Burgundy lovers must look outside of the revered Côte d’Or as prices for village wines there approach and sometimes exceed three digits. Rully, along with other villages in the Côte Chalonnaise, is a good place to look, as this charming white shows.… Read more

The way to find value in Burgundy these days is to look for wines from down-market appellations made by great producers. This one fits the bill perfectly. Domaine Geantet-Pansiot, a top producer based in Gevrey-Chambertin, makes a stunning array of wines from the village and Chambolle-Musigny.… Read more

Marsannay, practically a suburb of Dijon and the northern-most village appellation of the Côte de Nuits, lacks cachet. Its lack of prestige may be secondary to its relative youth since it gained a village appellation only in 1987, roughly 50 years after every other village (or maybe because it is the sole village in the Côte de Nuits that lacks Premier Cru vineyards).… Read more

Most village Chambolle-Musigny cost less than $100 a bottle, so the price might put you off. Don’t let it. This is no ordinary village wine! Indeed, you would be excused for thinking it is a Premier Cru. The grapes come from 75-year vines planted in three different plots around the village.… Read more

Erwann Boivin, the Commercial Director at Domaine Geantet-Pansiot, explains that the Le Poissenot vineyard is a cool site because sits high on the slope just under the forest and in the path of cooling breezes that come down the valley. Boivin thinks the site explains the wine’s elegance and liveliness in a warm vintage like 2023.… Read more

The Château de Chamirey, a top producer in Mercurey, has extensive holdings there. Their white is a blend of multiple plots throughout the appellation, giving the consumer a good idea of the character — the firmness — of the white wines from this primarily red appellation.… Read more

Château de Chamirey, a major producer of Mercurey, is also one of the appellation’s best, as this lovely village-designated wine shows. Blended from 10 plots throughout the village, it’s an excellent representation of the appellation. The generosity of the 2023 vintages melds beautifully atop the firm base typical of Mercurey.… Read more

Clos du Roi, unsurprisingly given its name (basically, “the King’s walled vineyard”), is a top Premier Cru in Mercurey. It is ideally situated, facing east to get the gentle morning sun, and was one of the original vineyards awarded that status in 1943.… Read more

The Marquis de Jouennes d’Herville acquired the Château de Chamirey in 1932 and, two years later, started to estate-bottle the wines to ensure their quality and authenticity. Currently, his granddaughter and grandson, Aurora and Amaury Devillard, run the estate. Aurore describes the soil at Clos des Ruelles as red, filled with iron, which she explains imparts structure to the wine.… Read more

The Devillard family, headed by the talented brother and sister team of Aurore and Amaury Devillard, run three major estates in Burgundy, this one in Givry, Château de Chamirey, in neighboring Mercury, and Domaine des Perdrix in Nuits-Saint-Georges. Aurore explains that they’ve owned Domaine de la Ferté since 2009 but have leased, farmed, and made wine from it for 35 years, so they know it well.… Read more

Clotilde Davenne, a top producer in Chablis, has expanded her portfolio to the adjacent appellation of Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre. With climate change, this northern appellation bordering Chablis, is rapidly becoming a fine source of affordable Bourgogne Blanc as more than one wine grower has told me, “We can make wine with ripe grapes now.”… Read more

Domaine de la Soufrandière, undoubtedly one of the finest and most consistent producers in the Mâconnais, made a sensational lineup of 2024s. The wines are all unique, reflecting their individual terroirs. Consumers can basically shoot blindfolded at Soufrandière’s 2024s and be happy with their choice.… Read more

Half of the wines from the Mâconnais are sold under the label of Mâcon-Villages, which indicates that the wine is a blend from more than one village. The other half come from one of the 27 villages allowed to put their name on the label, like this Mâcon-Vinzelles.… Read more

The Bret brothers inherited the Domaine La Soufrandière, the family estate in Vinzelles, in 2000 and have been making exceptional wines ever since. They acquired additional vineyards in the nearby appellation of Saint-Véran in 2016 and stated making this engaging wine.… Read more

Jean Philippe Bret, who along with his brothers, owns Domaine La Soufrandière, explains that 90 percent of this wine comes from the 1er Cru vineyard, Les Quarts, that they have declassified. Jean Philippe describes how some plots of Les Quarts have more clay in the soil, making the grapes not suitable for the elegance and finesse they value in their 1er Cru bottling.… Read more

Some 16 years after the growers of Pouilly-Vinzelles, a small appellation encompassing only about 130-acres, applied for 1er Cru status, the French wine authorities awarded that accolade to three vineyards, one of which is the 32-acre Les Quarts, starting with the 2024 vintage.… Read more

Domaine Samuel Billaud, a top grower in Chablis, consistently makes terrific wines at all levels, AOC Village, Premier Cru, and Grand Cru. This excellent AOC Village Chablis is a blend from three plots, two on the left bank of the Serein River and one on the right bank, so it offers a good representation of the appellation.… Read more

Samuel Billaud’s Les Vaillons, from old vines, comes from the heart of Les Vaillons, not one of the adjacent vineyards that are allowed to use the name Vaillons. Typical of Vaillons, it displays a lovely floral aspect that contrasts with, and enhances, its minerality.… Read more

Minerals, flint, stones – these are the primary sensory signals that sum up this fabulous Chablis 1er Cru. Billaud admits that his 2023s are more minerally than many from that vintage and thinks it is because he waited longer to bottle them, allowing them to pick up additional complexity from the lees.… Read more

In general, the wines from Vaudésir and Les Clos compete for the pinnacle at the Chablis Grand Cru level. Vaudésir typically displays touch more richness, perhaps at the expense of minerality, compared to Les Clos. Samuel Billaud’s comes from two plots, one from the east side of the vineyard and the other from the west.… Read more