Honeysuckle, peach, jasmine. Ripe, perfumed and exotic, viscous and heady – but, at its best, with a mineral, saline line and phenolic grip that keeps its hedonism in check. Condrieu is a wine like no other – and one that couldn’t be much less fashionable if it tried.  And yet, its top bottlings are incredibly hard to find. The likes of Georges Vernay’s Coteau de Vernon or Guigal’s La Doriane fly out on release. Chapoutier’s Coteau de Chery is absorbed effortlessly by France’s finest restaurant wine lists. The iconic Château-Grillet has almost vanished from the world of retail since it was taken over by Artémis. Production might be limited – but it’s also clear that there’s more than enough demand for these very special wines from the Northern Rhône.  The appellation and its unique expression of the Viognier grape has a rocky history. The Romans were the first to cultivate vines in this corner of the Rhône Valley – and they’ve been there ever since. By the 17th century, the wines from the steep slopes around the village of Condrieu were renowned throughout France. In 1853, there were 143 hectares of vines in the region – but then plague and pest arrived: powdery mildew swept through the vines, swiftly followed by phylloxera, decimating vineyards across Europe. With two World Wars, as well as the industrialisation of the valley, the workforce fled the vines for more stable, salaried factory work: looking up at the back-breaking angle of its slopes, entirely unmechanisable, it’s easy to see why the region’s vineyards were almost entirely abandoned. When the Condrieu Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) was created in 1940 (encompassing the villages of Condrieu, Vérin and Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône), just six hectares of vines remained.  Only eight of the potential 170 hectares were planted in the 1960s and Condrieu’s future looked uncertain. But one vigneron was quietly working to change that.  Georges Vernay – whose father Francis Vernay had helped create the appellation after planting his family’s first vines on the Coteau de Vernon in 1937 – believed in the alchemy between Condrieu’s biotite granite slopes and the Viognier grape. At the time, the region was best-known for its stone-fruit – with a kilo of peaches worth significantly more than a kilo of grapes. (The area is still known for its fruit today, Jean-Marc Roulot sources the apricots for his eau de vie and liqueur from the Rhône.) When Georges Vernay uprooted orchards to plant Viognier, people called him a fool.  “No one believed in Condrieu anymore, or in Viognier anymore,” Philippe Guigal – the winemaker and third-generation at the helm of his family’s company – tells me. Philippe’s father Marcel was another pioneer of the region, persisting in making fine wine from the region’s uneconomically steep terraces.  Vernay kept his faith too – championing Condrieu, but also Viognier. Almost all the Viognier in the world was planted in Condrieu at the time, and Vernay supplied cuttings to those outside the region – encouraging others to plant this distinctive grape. At the same time, he championed the region with his age-worthy wines, especially the now-iconic Coteau de Vernon.  By 1986 there were still only 19 hectares of Condrieu planted, but Vernay’s battle started paying off – wine-lovers fell for Condrieu’s rich, textural whites and plantings rocketed. There were 38 hectares of vines by 1992 and 217 by 2024. But it wasn’t just in the Rhône that Viognier finally found its footing – plantings appeared in the Ardèche, the Languedoc, Australia, California (especially with the wave of Rhône Rangers, led by Randall Grahm) and beyond. Viognier’s lustre had been restored.  Although now much more widely planted, it’s only in Condrieu that Viognier reaches such heights. Here, on steep terraced slopes in this hallowed corner of the Rhône, the vines sit almost directly on the granite bedrock – a specific type of granite laced with biotite, an iron-rich black mica. It’s this biotite granite that defined the original Condrieu appellation created in 1940 – encompassing vineyards around the villages of Condrieu, Vérin and Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône. The monopole appellation Château-Grillet (sadly unable to comment for this feature) sits within Condrieu, classified four years prior, and sharing the same biotite granite. The iron in the soils is key, lending much-needed tension to the potentially flabby Viognier.  Finding – and keeping – that tension is key to the best Condrieu. And it isn’t about acidity per se, but a sense of freshness.   For Emma Amsellem – who works alongside her mother Christine Vernay at Domaine Georges Vernay, “It’s a combination of different things.” She attributes much to their farming (which is both organic and biodynamic), as well as working with old vines and low yields (normally around 27-30hl/ha). Maxime Chapoutier – who works alongside his larger-than-life father Michel Chapoutier at the eponymous empire – echoes how important vine age is for Viognier, much more so than Syrah or Marsanne, he says. He finds Viognier starts to produce fruit of significantly more complexity at 20-30 years of age, but the vines can also lose interest if they’re too old.   “The beauty of the balance of Viognier comes from its dry extract – from its bitterness,” he explained. It is, Chapoutier says, the hardest grape to pick – harvest too early and you won’t have the necessary dry extract, but harvest too late and the aromatics are too much. Ansellem also emphasised the importance of picking date: although you want to retain as much natural acidity as possible, you also need Viognier to be sufficiently ripe – and the window is getting smaller and smaller with climate change.  The challenge, as Philippe Guigal puts it, is to keep the richness, the full expression of Viognier, as well as its drinkability and salinity. He introduced a Champenois-style cycle, very long and slow, for their Condrieu – something that helps bring out the grape’s aromatics and structure, a concept echoed by both Ansellem and Chapoutier, working with Viognier’s natural thick skins. Chapoutier also highlighted the importance of oxygenising the must and then racking as little as possible, retaining the lees to help build on the grape’s “noble bitterness”.  Guigal is also particularly careful with fermentation temperatures, feeling it is key to keep ferments under 12°C to avoid any potentially heavy aromas.  It's that dry extract that allows top Condrieu to age so beautifully too. Chapoutier explains how he likes to wait at least five years before opening their Coteau de Chery, but it can age for 25, developing more layers of complexity – with notes of honey, lanolin, gingerbread and dried citrus peel. “A great Condrieu is a wine that doesn’t taste of Viognier,” he says.  Tasting through a flight of the region’s top wines last week was fascinating – from Chapoutier’s remarkably fresh, floral Coteau de Chery to the decadent yet mineral Coteau de Vernon from Georges Vernay. More than anything was perhaps seeing the response from those tasting – the wines far surpassing their stereotypical expectations. Not all the haters left lovers, but they certainly had a newfound respect for the style; and those that were already fans fell even harder for its charms.  There’s next to no room for further plantings in Condrieu, largely thanks to Georges Vernay’s efforts championing the region, and quality in the appellation is higher than ever before. The style of its heady wines will always be divisive – and perhaps that’s a good thing given how limited production of the best wines is. Its cool credentials may not quite have caught up yet, but it’s time to open up to the region’s opulent embrace – you won’t regret it.  Top Condrieu cuvées to look out for  Chapoutier’s Coteau de Chery: From a single parcel of vines between 40 and 80 years in age, this is aged entirely in old oak (larger, 600-litre casks). Production is tiny (often only two barrels) and goes almost exclusively to restaurants in France.  Georges Vernay’s Coteau de Vernon: This is just a stone’s throw (100m or so) from Vernay’s other single-vineyard, Les Chaillés de l’Enfer (literally meaning the terraces of hell, for its steep south-facing slopes). From the region’s most famous pioneer, the vines were planted in the 1930s and 1960s, in a natural amphitheatre, producing a profound expression of Viognier that ages beautifully.  Guigal’s La Doriane: Guigal’s top Condrieu is a blend of their top five parcels across the appellation, averaging 35 years in age, matured in 100% new oak – which is seamlessly integrated with the concentrated and powerful fruit.  Château-Grillet: The tiny monopole appellation covers 3.5 hectares of vines. Owned by the Artémis group (owners of Ch. Latour) since 2011, its wines are some of the most sought-after in the world, largely disappearing into wine lists.  Yves Gangloff’s Condrieu: Renowned for its voluptuous style, in all the best ways, this bottling from this famous winemaker is rightfully prized.  André Perret’s Chéry: Known also for their Clos Chanson cuvée, Chéry also comes from the Coteau de Chery, from a three-hectare plot of 70-year-old vines.  Ogier’s Les Vieilles Vignes de Jacques Vernay: Only 125 cases are made of this wine per year, making it incredibly hard to find.  Marie & Pierre Benetière’s Condrieu: Possibly even harder to find than their astounding Côte-Rôties, Pierre was inspired by and studied under Vernay before making his own wines.   Explore all current listings of Condrieu or read more Editorial 

The epitome of Viognier, Condrieu makes some of the world’s most remarkable wines – yet this appellation in the Northern Rhône came close to disappearing. Sophie Thorpe dives into its brush with fate and how producers manage Viognier’s natural hedonism to create wines that stand the test of time 

Condrieu’s wines are better than ever. We talk to Georges Vernay, Guigal and Chapoutier about the appellation’s comeback 

Condrieu’s comeback with Vernay, Guigal and Chapoutier 

Condrieu’s comeback 

The 2022 vintage was the second in a row to be marked by drought. In his first look at the vintage, Walter Speller (jancisrobinson.com) emphasised how the winter offered little to no snow – and therefore snowmelt. While heavy rains can often run off the slopes, the trickle of snowmelt is more easily absorbed by the soils, meaning that in 2022 the already depleted water reserves (after the dry 2021 growing season) weren’t replenished.  The dry weather continued through the spring, and in late May the mercury started to rise. Flowering took place early (around 10 days ahead of normal). July became warmer and drier, and producers were conscious of managing canopies to avoid potential sun damage. The lack of water resulted in small berries and clusters, meaning a high skin-to-pulp ratio, but the main concern with the water stress was that it may block ripening – and in particular impact phenolic maturity.  Thanks to the steady, warm conditions, harvest got underway early, with all the Nebbiolo in by early October – producers looking to preserve aromatics and freshness in the heat. With no rain, there was little – if any – disease pressure, but sorting was still important to avoid shrivelled or sunburnt berries. Indeed, at Produttori del Barbaresco, Aldo Vacca said they lost around 10% via sorting, while with the small berries and sorting, Dave Fletcher (Fletcher Wines) had between 20 and 30% less than a normal year.  To succeed in the year, producers had to preserve acidity and manage the potentially excessive tannins from the small bunches produced, as well as sorting out any sun-damaged fruit.  At Burlotto, Fabio Alessandria told us that 2022 was “something never seen” – an atypical growing season that doesn’t compare to any that came before it. With warm, dry conditions and low yields, he expected big, rich, tannic wines – but has been surprised by their gentle approachability. It’s not a classic or great vintage in his books, but one that offers great pleasure. Similarly, Nicola Oberto (Trediberri) finds the wines don’t reflect the intensity of the year’s conditions.  Few critics have reviewed the vintage yet, although there’s a clear consensus that it is not an outstanding vintage and sits behind 2021, with more fruit-forward, but also approachable, wines. Vinous’s Antonio Galloni has been pleasantly surprised by the wines so far. He emphasises that managing yield was key, ensuring the crop load was low enough for the vine to ripen the fruit. Despite the risk of phenolic under-ripeness, he has found the wines to be softer than he anticipated, with generally less oak used, producing wines that will offer “near to medium-term drinking”, if not great ageability.   Keep your eyes peeled for additional reports on the vintage; we’ll add to this feature as and when we have more information. In the meantime, read more about Italy  Browse all current listings of 2022 Barbaresco

After the hallowed 2021 vintage in Piedmont, 2022 was a more challenging growing season. The wines it produced, however, have so far surprised both winemakers and critics. As the first 2022 Barbarescos are set to be released, we take a look at the year 

Diving into the 2022 vintage in Piedmont – the growing season and wines from Barolo and Barbaresco according to producers and critics 

Piedmont 2022 – Barolo and Barbaresco vintage 

Piedmont 2022: vintage focus 

Our team spent several weeks exploring the 2023 vintage in Burgundy – visiting, tasting and talking to a range of producers up and down the Côte d’Or. Here, we offer a run-down of the year by producer, from north to south, reporting on how each fared and our pick of their range this year

A run-down of the Burgundy 2023 vintage wines en primeur by producer: from Fourrier to Lafon via Bernstein, Lamarche, Lambrays, Duroche and Hudelot-Noellat 

Burgundy 2023 vintage by producer 

Burgundy 2023: by producer

The 2023 vintage was rare for Burgundy – offering both quantity and quality. But it isn’t quite that simple, with an atypical growing season, almost too much fruit, and a less homogenous crop. We report on the vintage and its wines – the best of which are remarkable

The 2023 vintage was rare for Burgundy – offering both quantity and quality. We report on the growing season and the wines it produced

Burgundy 2023 vintage overview

Burgundy 2023: vintage overview

For more than two decades, Donum has been quietly crafting single-site, single-clone and sometimes single-barrel wines. With a new estate vineyard to their name, Rachael Ryan – Senior Buyer at our US arm, Vinfolio – sat down with winemaker Dan Fishman to find out more about the ambitious estate  Like most of the New World, California eschews a hierarchy of vineyards. Yet in the absence of Grands Crus and First Growths, some vineyards are just acknowledged as being a notch above the rest. Ask any winemaker for a wish list of vineyards, and a handful of familiar names is repeated. One of these is the Savoy Vineyard.  Nestled at the north end of the Anderson Valley, Savoy was first planted in 1991 and quickly became a source of Pinot Noir for some of the most respected wineries in Northern California, including Littorai, Williams Selyem, Radio-Coteau and Peay, with many more on the waiting list. Last year, however, it was acquired by Donum, a winery based in Carneros with a reputation for producing small lot Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, sold exclusively to private collectors and therefore rarely seen on the market.  Since it was created in 2001, Donum had slowly expanded its reach beyond Carneros, with vineyards in the Russian River and Anderson Valleys, as well as the Sonoma Coast. With the acquisition of Savoy, however, their already envious collection of vineyards took a very notable – and sizable – jump. The gain of this prestigious vineyard marks a shift for Donum, who will now produce wine from estate fruit only: 130 acres at their estate in Carneros, 16 acres at the Winside Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, 20 acres at the newly planted Bodega Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast, and the 42 planted acres at Savoy Vineyard in the Anderson Valley.   Already well-known for their world-class art collection (with over 50 works by the likes of Keith Haring, Yayoi Kusama and Ai Weiwei), what many visitors may not realise is that Donum now has a solid foothold in each of the premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay winegrowing regions in Northern California.   In some ways, the vineyards owned by Donum are innately similar, perhaps most closely linked the marine layer. This dense fog rolls in from the Pacific Ocean most afternoons during the growing season and is a key characteristic of each of these vineyard sites. The mechanics of this cooling marine layer are somewhat straightforward. As temperatures climb in inland California, the hot air rises, creating a vacuum into which the denser, colder air sitting over the Pacific Ocean rushes. On a typical summer day, coastal areas are fully clouded over by late afternoon, and the fog continues to creep further inland, searching for gaps and valleys in the coastal ranges to extend its reach. This cold, moist air both lowers sunlight hours and keeps temperatures low. In other words, this coastal phenomenon is an extremely useful aide in the production of lively wines that retain a fresh edge.  Aside from cooling fog influence, however, the vineyards Donum farms are topographically quite different. The estate property in Carneros, with its gently rolling hills and proximity to the bay, straddles the southern portion of both Sonoma and Napa counties (though Donum’s property is firmly situated on the Sonoma side), with consistent winds blowing from the southeast over the San Pablo Bay giving the region a wide diurnal shift and the resulting wines a sense of energetic tension. The Anderson Valley, on the other hand, is a narrow swathe cut through dense, old redwood forest, and it's difficult not to mentally connect the rugged hills that line the valley on both sides with a similar evergreen, earthy core in the wines. The Russian River Valley is a warmer microclimate, further removed from the cooling influence of the ocean or bay, with loamy soils producing a more concentrated style of wine with opulent fresh fruit.  But for Dan Fishman (Vice President of Winemaking and Vineyards) perhaps the most unifying characteristic across each site is a hyper-focus on farming, which he believes is the best – and perhaps the only – way to showcase these unique terroirs. When he joined Donum in 2007 as a cellar intern, the farming was conventional, with routine application of herbicides and synthetic fertiliser. In recent years, however, he has spearheaded a pivot towards organic farming.   Notable features of this approach include an on-site composting program, where manure from local dairy farms is added to pomace from the winery and canes from pruning. Other eco-friendly initiatives include an integrated pest management system, extensive cover cropping (Fishman estimates Donum currently uses 20 different cover crop blends comprised of over 40 different plants), as well as animals brought into the rows for winter grazing. All these systems have improved the soil structure, “bringing more back to the soil than we’re taking from it”, he explains.  A peek into the rows at the Carneros estate reveals this shift in viticultural philosophy, with verdant cover crops and bees hovering. Tucked between the sculptures that dot the property are vines that are farmed meticulously. While the art is spectacular and very difficult to ignore, the attention to detail in the vineyards is perhaps even more impressive. Donum is now one of the first wineries in Sonoma County to achieve Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) status for all its estate vineyards, and they’ve also been certified organic from the California Certified Organic Farming Association (CCOF) since the summer of 2022. The ROC status, however, is one that Fishman is particularly proud of, as it encompasses not just soil health and land management, but also animal welfare and the working conditions of the employees.    When asked if he has seen a difference in the behaviour of the vines, and in the quality of the fruit, since undertaking a rigorous approach to organic viticulture, Fishman’s answer is an emphatic yes. He points to the 2023 growing season as a prime example. In a year marked by record-breaking rainfall that extended into early spring, the threat of mildew was abnormally high. “Our conventional neighbors were spraying like crazy and still had mildew,” Fishman says, “but we were obviously using organic methods and applying them less frequently, and we had way less mildew. I think the vines’ natural resiliency was coming out.”   In line with a larger overall trend in Northern California, Fishman says he also has been trying to fine-tune the weight and concentration of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir produced at each vineyard. If Burgundy’s biggest challenge historically has been to achieve even ripeness vintage to vintage, California’s problem cultivating Pinot Noir and Chardonnay been quite the opposite: how to tame abundant sunshine and control vigour resulting from warm days and fertile soils. While the fog assists with this task, one unexpected benefit of the winery’s intensive focus on farming, Fishman explains, is that the vines are more in balance. “It’s on the subtle side,” he says, “but our wine chemistry is looking better too – higher acidity and more flavour at lower sugars.” Opulence has given way to restraint and nuance.   The resulting range of wines at Donum is an impressive display of small-lot vinification, broken down not just by appellation or vineyard, but also often by individual blocks. In 2021, the winery produced six distinct Chardonnays and 17 Pinot Noirs in total from Carneros, the Russian River Valley and the Anderson Valley. With the development of their newest vineyard on the Sonoma Coast, Donum’s already complex patchwork quilt of wines is about to get even bigger.   With a gentle hand in both the vineyard and winery, Fishman hopes to highlight the most minute of variations in each wine, allowing the innate characteristics of each site to shine through. “We have a really intense focus on vineyard flavour first,” he explains.    “We’re not trying to force a house style, just let the vineyard or block do the talking,” Fishman continues, “We’re trying to make the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California, wherever that comes from.” With access to such an extensive assortment of prime locations, now including the illustrious Savoy Vineyard as a feather in its proverbial cap, to say that the future at Donum is exciting is an understatement indeed. While many may think of California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as one group of wines, a monolith with little variation in style, Fishman and his team at Donum hope to change that mindset, one vineyard at a time.  The Donum wines have historically been available only to those on their mailing list, but we are now working directly with the estate: browse all current Donum listings. 

Donum’s focus on site sets it apart. We talk to winemaker Dan Fishman about the wines, vineyards and estate’s significant ambitions

Discovering Donum’s single-site wines

First place: Donum

2022 Bourgogne Chardonnay, Charles van Canneyt The grapes for Charles van Canneyt’s Bourgogne come exclusively from the Côte d’Or this year. It is fresh, floral, elegant and crisp on the nose, while the palate feels light and crystalline. There’s bright acidity, a round structure, gentle white fruit and a touch of lemon peel, with a long persistent finish. This is easy-drinking Bourgogne which will be enjoyable young, but will age gracefully over the next few years. 2022 Bourgogne Rouge, Domaine Charles Audoin This wine is already bottled and is astoundingly good-value. Audoin doesn’t own any Bourgogne vines, so this is made exclusively with declassified Marsannay fruit, sourced from part of Longeroies (where he also makes a single-vineyard Marsannay), Herbues, Champagne Haute, Champs Forey and Es Chezots. Aged in larger, 500-litre oak, the wine is irresistibly juicy. The nose entices with sweet and dainty red berry fruit, revealing more delicate florals and crushed minerals with air. Pure and vibrant with a savoury, pleasingly bitter note to the finish. Stock up on this and you won’t regret it – astonishing value. 2022 Chambolle-Musigny, Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat Hudelot-Noëllat’s village Chambolle is a blend of 11 parcels around the appellation to provide a true expression of the village as a whole. Charles van Canneyt’s light touch works well with the vintage, creating a classical Chambolle-Musigny. Full of floral lift and delicate aromatics, this is Pinot Noir that pirouettes. But there’s plenty of muscle behind it, with creamy richness and a crunchy, red-fruited persistence to the palate. With a mouth-watering finish, it’s beautifully balanced. 2022 Bourgogne Blanc, Henri Boillot Henri Boillot’s Bourgogne Blanc is made with mainly declassified fruit from the villages of Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Saint-Romain and Auxey-Duresses. Combine that with this domaine’s skill and you get a superlative wine (especially for the price) – and particularly in 2022. Henri Boillot feels it’s the Auxey-Duresses fruit that bring the wine such energy – with incredible drive and zingy acidity that almost revs the fruit. The nose is pithy, with citrus lift and a honeyed edge, tight at this youthful stage, like the concentrated palate. Long with a mouth-watering, saline finish, this is unbeatable value. 2022 Mazis-Chambertin, Grand Cru, Domaine Tortochot The Mazis-Chambertin was a highlight in the Tortochot line-up this year. With around two-thirds new oak, it’s a wonderfully sleek Grand Cru. Polished, bright red-berry fruit dominates the nose, but there’s also a savoury edge and crushed-rock character. The tannins are glossy and smooth, with pleasing freshness. While incredibly approachable now, this has the balance and concentration to age. 2022 Morey-Saint-Denis, Premier Cru, Les Millandes, Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini Les Millandes sits below Clos de la Roche – and is always a favourite in the line-up at Heresztyn-Mazzini, whose vines here are at least 70 years old. In 2022, Florence Heresztyn decided to do a lighter green-harvest on this plot, to avoid a wine that was too powerful, with around 80% whole-bunch fermentation and a lighter toast for the 30% new oak for its élevage. The result is delicious. The nose is intoxicating – with pepper spice, dark fruit and scented florals. There’s a swathe of chalky, velvet, almost nubuck, tannins that cloak the core of dark fruit, all refreshed by wave after wave of mouth-watering acidity. You’re left with delicate florals, lingering long on the tongue 2022 Savigny-lès-Beaune, Premier Cru, Les Serpentières, Jean Marc & Hugues Pavelot Pavelot’s vines in Les Serpentières average around 60 years in age. The wine has always been in the line-up, but until 2022, Hugues Pavelot had just 0.17 hectares – now he has over a hectare, all in the northern part of the vineyard, which generally produces a wine of finesse. It’s particularly true in 2022, with the wine a more delicate, floral and transparent expression of Savigny-lès-Beaune. Bright redcurrant and raspberry fruit fills the core of the palate, framed by grippy tannins and building to a long, mineral finish.   2022 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Louis Auguste, Domaine David Duband This wine, named in honour of David’s son, Louis Auguste, comes from higher-altitude sites and some of the domaine’s oldest vines (over 55 years in age). The 2022 is dark-fruited, high-toned and with a ripe, sweet nose. The palate is fresh – awash with a blur of black and red berries, and a more precise, chalky note that dominates the finish. 2022 Bourgogne Rouge, Jean-Marie Fourrier The fruit for Jean-Marie Fourrier’s Bourgogne Rouge all comes from the Côte de Nuits – and that shows in the quality of this impressive wine, which is an outstanding introduction to the producer’s style. Aromatic and bright, this is chock-full of crunchy, pure raspberry and cherry fruit – mouth-wateringly juicy and effortlessly balanced. 2022 Saint-Aubin, Premier Cru, Le Charmois, Au Pied du Mont Chauve Coming from a terroir neighbouring En Pimont (another of Au Pied du Mont Chauve’s sites), this east-facing vineyard is opposite En Remilly, on the other side of the combe. This terroir always retains lovely freshness thanks to its higher altitude, and this is particularly true in 2022. The Charmois spent 18 months on lees, including 10 months in oak. It has a very perfumed and expressive nose, with notes ranging from ripe peach to white flowers. The wine has great body, complex and fruit-driven with lively acidity that makes for a crisp finish. This should be approachable immediately but has enough acidity to age for at least 10-15 years. 2022 Coteaux Bourguignons, L’Eclos des Abeilles, Domaine de Bellene This wine is once again excellent for what is “just” a Coteaux Bourguignons, rivalling some top village appellations. The fruit for this cuvée comes from cooler vineyards on the limits of the Bourgogne appellation in Nantoux (where the vines are 80 years old), Saint-Romain and Nuits-Saint-Georges, classified as Coteaux Bourguignons (an appellation more often associated with reds). Honeyed, fresh and round, it has bright citrus and orange peel notes, with vibrant acidity and a long, mouth-watering finish. This absolute favourite will be delicious young, but also evolve nicely over the next six to eight years. There is around 15% new oak here. Drink 2024-2032. 2022 Morey-Saint-Denis, Premier Cru, Les Sorbès, Domaine George Lignier Benoît Stehly already had 0.19 hectares of this vineyard just in front of the village cemetery, but it has historically gone into his Premier Cru blend. As of 2022, however, he has another 0.19-hectare plot and bottled the cuvée separately for the first time, making four barrels. It’s gorgeous – with a bright, tart-fruited intensity on the nose. The palate is lush with raspberry and cherry – the fruit of impressive purity. Velveteen tannins frame the fruit, while the long finish offers a savoury, smoky note.

The grandest names in the Côte d’Or might be the most desirable – but there’s much more to the region beyond the very top appellations. Here we highlight the wines that we think offer the best value in 2022

Discover the best-value wines from our tastings of the Burgundy 2022 vintage so far – from up and down the Cote d’Or

The best-value wines in Burgundy 2022

Burgundy 2022: top-value buys

I was hesitant about meeting Ivan Massonnat. The man who created Domaine Belargus seemed to fill easy stereotypes. A background in private equity. Lived in Paris. A passion for wine – and a dream to make it himself. Big scores and some pretty punchy prices for a brand-new estate from the Loire. Reading between the lines, I feared there was a lot of cash and possibly too much polish. Thankfully, I was wrong.  Created in 2018 and based in Anjou, Domaine Belargus has rapidly become one of fine wine’s hottest new names. The first wines were released in 2021, in the midst of the global pandemic, but had already earned serious acclaim. Yohan Castaing wrote in Decanter, “Remember this name, as its production should meet with resounding critical success in the coming years.” The wines received glowing reviews in Wine Spectator and the Wine Advocate – where Stephan Reinhardt declared it “one of the most spectacular new entries in the history of [the publication]”, granting a coveted 100-point score for its 2018 Quarts de Chaume Ultra. But that was just the beginning. Ivan Massonnat is a man with big plans – both for his own wines, and the region as a whole.  Wine was a part of life for Massonnat from a young age – with his grandfather farming a small vineyard in their village in the Savoie. But, despite helping at harvest time each year, he didn’t end up drinking wine until he was 20, when he was “instantly hooked”, he says. He fell in love with Burgundy and the concept of “vin de lieu” – wine of place.  Massonnat made his money in private equity, based in Paris but travelling the world, where fine dining – and fine wine lists – only fed his terroir obsession. Two decades ago he was looking for a country house for his family, and – not having a car – settled on the Loire. “The more I was spending time there, the more I realised that the region was totally misunderstood,” he says. Prior to the upheaval of the French Revolution and the subsequent arrival of mildew and phylloxera, the Loire was one of France’s most prestigious wine regions – home to the nation’s kings, the fruit of its vines were the royal court’s natural choice. Post-phylloxera, however, quality was scrapped in favour of quantity. “Its image started to blur,” says Massonnat.  Combine the region’s history with its two great, native varieties – Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc – and Massonnat saw “an incredible diamond in the rough”. Wine had become an increasingly large part of his life – tasting widely and visiting producers as much as possible, especially in Burgundy where vignerons such as Philippe Pacalet and Thibault Liger-Belair friends and mentors. But it wasn’t just a hobby – Massonnat was starting to think this could be more, the adventure that lay beyond the world of finance.  As the adage goes, the world of wine is a brilliant way to make a small fortune – provided you start out with a large one. Massonnat, however, didn’t underestimate the challenges and set about getting to grips with the mechanics of the business. “It started really to become a project 10 years ago,” he says – talking to importers, consultants, journalists and merchants. And, perhaps unsurprisingly given his successful career, Massonnat wasn’t looking to make any wine – he was determined to create something exceptional.  After a failed attempt to buy a Chinon estate in 2015, he turned his attention to great Chenin Blanc sites in Anjou Noir, between the Layon and Loire rivers – low-yielding hillsides where producers were struggling to make money and consequently there was land to buy. More than just availability, it was here that Massonnat saw great potential. The area’s dark, schist soils (cause for the “noir” in the region’s name) were littered with tiny appellations, echoing those of Burgundy, with a much hillier landscape, and the only Premier and Grand Cru vineyards in the region.  Between 2016 and 2018, Massonnat started visiting every vineyard he could find – looking for the exceptional. Then the local winemaker Patrick Baudouin introduced him to Jo Pithon – a legend of the Loire. Pithon had been making wine since 1978, a pioneer of organic farming, crafting fine dry and sweet wines – but the talented vigneron was by no means a businessman. By the early 2000s, his lack of commercial knowhow lost him the rights to his name, along with the majority of his vineyards – all but one plot, the Coteau des Treilles.  Massonnat met Pithon at the Angers wine fair in 2018; they got on well enough and he arranged to see Pithon’s vineyards the following day. The next morning, it was snowing and he regretted his decision . But then, at 8.32am on 6th February 2018, “It’s as if I was struck by lightning,” Massonnat says. Pithon had brought him to Coteau des Treilles. Long farmed organically, it has slopes at a gradient of 70%, embedded in a natural reserve, with a Mediterranean microclimate – and Massonnat knew instantly it was what he had been looking for. He bought the Pithon-Paillé operation that Jo Pithon had created a decade earlier.  Luck continued to be on Massonnat’s side – and he bought two other vineyards over the next six months, adding to his collection of prime sites. He managed to buy a quarter of the Quarts de Chaume appellation – the only Grand Cru vineyards in the region – which amazingly had been on the market for 10 years. “Nobody wanted to buy it… They were looking at it as a sweet wine terroir. But actually, a great terroir is a great terroir… you will do dry wines that are quite exceptional,” Massonnat explains. Then he snapped up a parcel in Savennières – the only plot to have been sold in the last seven years.  He hired a young team and Pithon stayed on to consult – and the real work began. “Belargus is a 100-year project. Everything we do, we have that horizon,” Massonnat says. The vines are all organically certified, but they’re now working towards biodynamic accreditation. Yields are low, and they’re trying gradually to increase them to around 35hl/ha in a good vintage (currently the highest they’ve managed is 29hl/ha). “Our obsession is to have the right maturity,” Massonnat explains. To battle Chenin Blanc’s natural heterogeneity, they pick in multiple passes, minimum two or three but up to six, depending on the year – and that is just for the dry wines. The general approach is minimalist – with stainless steel and mainly larger, old oak, indigenous yeast, letting malolactic fermentation happen (or not), keeping wines on the lees and using only essential levels of sulphur. A new winery is being planned to take things to the next level, with, for example, a Coquard press (allowing especially gentle pressing, commonly used in Champagne).  The project is about expressing the different terroirs of this corner of Anjou Noir. The first release (which sold almost instantly given the hype from the critics, with 80% exported) consisted of 14 cuvées – nine dry wines and five sweet, focusing on nine specific plots across the estate’s vineyards. The dry wines are powerful, tightly wound and intense – as Massonnat says, “It’s not wine for every day,” comparing them to white Hermitage or Corton-Charlemagne, wines that need food and time. Although 90% of production is dry, Massonnat confesses, “We are obsessed with sweet wines.” These, he feels, are what will really set Anjou Noir on the world stage – if, perhaps, what he calls “the sugar pandemic” ever stops.   With Massonnat’s finance background comes a flexibility that few others have. He hopes to hold all the wines back four years eventually, but for now it is between three and four – and he was able to release the 2020s before the exceptional 2019s. It also allowed him to set prices unusually high compared to his neighbours. “I had the luxury to make that choice for the region,” he explains. “I wanted to break the glass ceiling.” And although he thought it would take time – his first release proved that there were plenty of people ready to snap up the value that these wines offered, including many of those now priced out of Burgundy.  And this is his real dream – for the Loire to be recognised as Burgundy is, as “a tier-one region which any collector needs to have in its cellar, that needs to be understood”. It’s easy to imagine other producers might have bristled at an outsider’s arrival, pitching their very first wines at unheard-of prices; but Massonnat is intent on leading the crusade for the entire region, not just Domaine Belargus. He volunteered to run the Paulée d’Anjou – a celebration of the region’s wines – in 2019, and made it bigger and better. In 2021, he became co-president of the Quarts de Chaume appellation, alongside Marie Guégniard from Domaine de la Bergerie. Together they are fighting for the appellation to permit both dry and sweet wines, as Savennières technically can, and Quarts de Chaume could until 1996. “Anjou was a dirty word. And look at the revolution now,” he says.  Like the precious blue butterfly that gives its name to the Belargus estate, Massonnat isn’t happy sitting still – and he’s already got another project – having had the chance to buy the Chinon estate he’d originally had his eye on in 2015. The best wine he ever tasted was a Chinon, a 1989 from Charles Joguet. “There was a whole civilisation in this wine,” he told me, trying to explain how moving the experience had been. There’s no doubt that Massonnat is a canny businessman, but his vision is extraordinary – and one that he seems set to realise.  Explore all current listings of Domaine Belargus or read more Editorial 

Since it was created in 2018, Domaine Belargus has become a name to watch. Sophie Thorpe sat down with Ivan Massonnat, the man behind the project, to find out more about the Anjou estate and his vision for the region

With top reviews for its first releases, Anjou estate Domaine Belargus has become a name to watch. We sat down with founder Ivan Massonnat to find out more

Talking to Domaine Belargus’s Ivan Massonnat

The archangel of Anjou: Ivan Massonnat

2021 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Louis Auguste, Domaine David Duband  
This wine, named in honour of David’s son, Louis Auguste, comes from higher-altitude sites and some of the domaine’s oldest vines (over 55 years in age). In 2021, it’s spicy and lifted – offering a mouthful of pure, crunchy red fruit. It’s fresh and mouth-watering, building to a savoury, smoky finish. Superb value.  


2021 Gevrey-Chambertin, Charles van Canneyt  
This village bottling is an excellent entry point to Charles van Canneyt’s range – especially if you can’t get your hands on any of his Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat wines. The 2021s may be the best vintage to date of his négociant label, with a line-up of elegant and vibrant wines that offer great value. The village Gevrey-Chambertin is a wine of such finesse – with a lifted, perfumed nose. But behind the aromatics, there’s a more serious palate, with persistent, focused fruit, and vivid acidity driving through the core of the wine. The long finish is scented with delicate florals. 


2021 Gevrey-Chambertin, Domaine Duroché  
Because yields were so low in 2021 (due to frost and hail in the north of Gevrey), Duroché’s 2021 village Gevrey includes fruit from Le Clos, Champ, En Vosne and what little survived the hail in Premier Cru Champeaux. All Duroché’s vines are old, and for this cuvée, they were all planted between 1930 and 1986. The nose is perfumed and floral, but it’s the palate that really sings – with a tight energy and ripe, round mouth-feel. A gentle toastiness (with 15% new oak) coats the sweet, red cherry fruit. This vibrates with potential – the finish long, saline and mouth-watering. A brilliant introduction to the Duroché style. 


2021 Savigny-lès-Beaune, Premier Cru, Aux Guettes, Domaine Jean-Marc & Hugues Pavelot  
This vineyard sits just below the forest, with only 30cm top-soil over the hard rock below. The Pavelot plot (a mere 0.35 hectares) shows a totally different side to Savigny – brighter and lighter, with vibrant red fruit and a creaminess (with 25% new oak). The nose is full of raspberry and cranberry, with a welcome, sublime freshness thanks to this more “traditional” vintage. The medium-bodied palate is mineral and elegant, with great tension. The oak is well-integrated, bringing extra weight to the mid-palate, building to a vibrant, long finish. This is a top wine – classic and airy, as Burgundy used to always be. 


2021 Givry, Premier Cru, Clos Marole, Domaine Joblot  
Clos Marole is one of the few survivors from a catastrophic growing season at Domaine Joblot, with yields slashed by 50%. But – even if there’s not very much of it – the wine is superb. You’re instantly struck with vibrant, fresh red fruit, blackberry and crushed strawberry – possibly thanks to the old vines (on average 40 years old). The oak (35% new) needs a little more time to integrate fully, but is well-judged. Relatively light-bodied, the palate is driven by great acidity and silky tannins. The finish is long and suave. Enjoy this delicious wine young, but it has everything to keep for a decade or more.  


2021 Morey-Saint-Denis, Premier Cru, Clos des Ormes, Domaine George Lignier  
Domaine Georges Lignier is the largest owner in Clos des Ormes, with almost two hectares of the Premier Cru, all on calcaire comblanchien. The nose is pretty and perfumed with sweet spice notes courtesy of the oak (around 25% new). The fruit is bright and crunchy, yet there’s a darker, more brooding aspect on show – with a powdery tannic structure adding texture to the pure, long palate. An impressive result in the vintage.  


2021 Coteaux Bourguignons, L’Eclos des Abeilles, Domaine de Bellene  
Nicolas Potel only made 6,000 bottles of this wine in 2021 (instead of 20,000 normally) – yet it’s once again excellent for what is “just” a Coteaux Bourguignons, rivalling some top village appellations. The fruit for this great-value cuvée comes from cooler vineyards on the limits of the Bourgogne appellation in Nantoux (where the vines are 80 years old), Saint-Romain and Nuits-Saint-Georges, classified as Coteaux Bourguignons (an appellation more often associated with reds). The wine is mainly Chardonnay, however there’s a sprinkling of Aligoté adding extra zip.  The nose is honeyed, fresh and mineral, with the palate crisp at first, with clean acidity and superb balance. It rounds out with toasted almond and citrus, building to a long finish that brings a generous dimension of complexity to the wine. It is almost ready to drink now. A superb effort from Potel.  
  
2021 Puligny-Montrachet, La Rue aux Vaches, Alvina Pernot  
This was a particular highlight of our tasting – offering a very different style to Clos des Noyers Brets. Versus the soft purity of Clos des Noyers Brets, this is both more mineral and with a riper core of fruit – juicy white peach and apple, but with a bright, zesty green edge to it, and the very slightest hint of toast. The texture is richer and creamier, offering a pleasingly round yet beautifully elegant mouthful. Long and nuanced finish. This was bottled exclusively in magnum – with just 146 produced.   


2021 Saint-Aubin, Premier Cru, En Remilly, Louis Jadot 
In 2021, there is just one barrel of this Premier Cru – and it’s exclusively available from FINE+RARE. Pithy with flinty, mineral tones that complement an almost orange-zest lift. Behind the citrus and minerals though, there’s a core of fresh, white-peach fruit and toasty, spicy oak that lingers on the finish. The concentrated core is balanced by vibrant acidity, with that creaminess rounding out the lithe palate. Delicious.  


2021 Chablis, Grand Cru, Les Blanchots, Domaine Long-Depaquit  
Domaine Long-Depaquit has 1.66 hectares of this cool Grand Cru. They managed to make just 20% of a normal crop in 2021, the region’s yields drastically reduced by cruel April frosts. This was a particular highlight of our tasting – with an intense, taut, lime-and-lemon profile. Although the fruit verges on lean, there’s a brightness to the wine too. Notes of chalk, oyster shell and Granny smith apple are complemented by a creamy, round character. The finish is long and zesty – classic, pinpoint Chablis. 
 Browse all available Burgundy or read more about the vintage 


The grandest names in the Côte d’Or might be the most desirable – but there’s much more to the region beyond the very top appellations. Here we highlight 10 of the wines that we think offer the best value in 2021 

Discover the 10 best-value wines from our tastings of the Burgundy 2021 vintage so far – from up and down the Cote d’Or

The best-value wines in Burgundy 2021

Burgundy 2021: top-value buys

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