2020 Jean-Claude Bachelet Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Blanc

2020 Jean-Claude Bachelet Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Blanc

2020 Jean-Claude Bachelet Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Blanc Aromas of sweet orchard fruit, dried white flowers, beeswax and freshly baked bread preface the 2020 Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Charmois, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and precise wine with a bright core of fruit, lively acids and a long, saline finish.

One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn’t like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.

Jean-Baptiste (first vintage 2005) and Benoît Bachelet (first vintage 2000) are now the primary winemakers at the family domaine, which has been making wine since the early 17th century.  The domaine is based in the village of Gamay, a hamlet of Saint-Aubin, and they have ten hectares, producing half red and half white. Almost half of the vineyards are in Chassagne-Montrachet, another 40% of the vineyards are in Saint-Aubin, and the remaining 13% of their holdings are in Puligny-Montrachet. All of the vineyards are estate-owned, and they started conversion to biodynamic production in 2012. In 2016, all ten hectares were managed following biodynamic principles. Although it means a lot more work in the vineyards, the brothers find that the wines have more precision and you get a stronger sense of terroir.