Tasting notes: Domaine Alain Chavy Chardonnay
Domaine Alain Chavy Bourgogne Chardonnay displays a wonderful purity of ripe apple fruit with a bright, fresh, mouthfeel. It is creamy on the palate, firm and fresh with citrus, vanilla and further apple notes.
The wine is juicy with a long, fresh finish and is a classy offering from Alain that offers great value for money too.
Food match:
This wine pairs well with dishes like eggs benedict, steak béarnaise, fine rich fish such as turbot and grilled veal chops with mushrooms.
Producer/Region:
Few villages in the Côte d’Or are as famous as Puligny-Montrachet, home to some of the world’s most acclaimed vineyards. Surprisingly, only a small number of the wines bearing the name of the appellation are actually made by vignerons based in the village.
The Chavy family has had roots in Puligny for almost 200 years. In 1976, after years of selling grapes to negociants they began to bottle wines under their own label. The barrels resting in Chavy’s beautiful, arched cavern contain wine from some of the finest premier cru vineyards found in the appellation.
Since the establishment of Domaine Alain Chavy, the quality of the wines is always improving. Alain makes a restrained style of Puligny, with ripe (but never over ripe) fruit balanced by crisp acidity, designed for long ageing.
Almost no chemicals are used in the vineyards apart for protection against mildew. All grapes are hand harvested, pressed and fermented in barrel at not more than 25° C. The entire crop is barrel fermented and Alain believes this keeps the wines rich and complex but with less overtly oaky flavour.
The amount of batonnage is low and the malolactic fermentation normally starts late due to the relatively cold temperature in the underground cellar. The wines are not racked before September and have been bottled as late as January, some 16 months after the harvest.
Alain Chavy does not own land in any of the illustrious Grand Crus that stare down on his domaine but he is able to express the essence of Puligny through some of its finest premier crus. His winemaking is hands off and a low percentage of new oak allows the terroir to shine through in these pure, elegant wines.
