From: Burgundy, France
Varietal: Chardonnay

Taste: We visited New York in September and tasted many wines that aren’t widely available (and don’t come to Seattle), hoping to find some gems to bring into the shop; this wine was one of them. Rosenthal Wine Merchant has blessedly held back this cuvée to release in late 2023, and for the same reasons that we hold back on Burgundy or Bordeaux, we constantly check in to see how our wines are developing. I’ve seen a significant turnaround in how the 2018 white burgundies are drinking this year, and this is no exception. The shift in drinkability feels like the evolution of shedding baby fat to reveal a chiseled face and maturity, ready to take on the world. The underlying limestone bedrock of the premier cru has emerged to provide a chiseled mineral throughline. At the same time, the rich, opulent fruit and toasted notes have melded together and are now a harmonious whole that tastes like spun gold and is absolutely deserving of its new premier cru status. You’ll find refreshing citrus (grapefruit and lemon zest), juicy peach aromas and flavors in the glass, and a flinty note that cuts through ripe stone fruit, a hint of hazelnut, and buttered brioche. That follows through to the palate, where the wines’ minerality shows itself in a lifted, saline finish. Your palate will thank you; you’ll want another glass before you know it!

Pairing: Even though seafood like prawns, crab, and lobster pair wonderfully with wines like this, this particular wine makes me want something a little earthy and more substantial (like the Porcini Risotto below). Roasted chicken and mushrooms, veal, pastas or risotto without tomato, and roasted winter vegetables would be excellent company for this wine.

Porcini Risotto
By Oliver Schwaner-Albright

About. Many thanks to importer Rosenthal Wine Merchant for the following information. The cellars of the Domaine Cheveau are situated in the hamlet of Solutré-Pouilly in the heart of the appellation of Pouilly-Fuissé. The domaine was established by André Cheveau in 1950. His efforts were followed by his son, Michel, and now Michel’s two sons, Nicolas and Julien are actively running this fourteen (14) hectare estate. The vineyard holdings are predominantly located in and around Solutré-Pouilly but extend as well into Davayé in the Maconnais and Saint Amour in the Beaujolais.

The vineyards dedicated to Chardonnay are composed of the classic clay – limestone composition that provides the perfect ambience to produce the grand wines of Burgundy. The Gamay in the vineyards in Saint Amour, this famed cru in the Beaujolais, is planted essentially in sand, schist and granite.

All harvesting at the Domaine Cheveau is done by hand and the wines are fermented and vinified parcel-by-parcel. Fermentation and aging is done either in barrel or stainless steel tank depending on the particular terroir of each site. Overall production is approximately 60,000 bottles per annum.

This wine. Cheveau owns a parcel of 30-year-old Chardonnay in the vineyard “Aux Bouthières”—upgraded to premier cru status in the historic 2020 reclassification. Situated in the commune of Solutré-Pouilly very close to premier cru “Pouilly,” Bouthières contains richer soil with a higher clay content than some of its neighbors, thus producing a wine built more around breadth and power than minerality. Still, its underlying limestone core shines through strongly. This cuvée spends 12 months in 600-liter barrels on its fine lees followed by an additional 12 months in stainless steel.

Domaine details:
FARMING
Lutte Raisonnée
TREATMENTS
Copper sulfate, along with exceedingly rare synthetic treatments when strictly necessary
PLOUGHING
Annual ploughing and working of the soil to maintain vineyard health since 1999
SOILS
Mâconnais vineyards are on limestone-clay from the upper Jurassic period; Beaujolais vineyards are on decomposed granite, schist, and sand
VINES
Gamay vines are trained in Gobelet and range from 50 to nearly 100 years old. Chardonnay vines are trained in Guyot and average 40 years old
YIELDS
Controlled with winter pruning and debudding, usually 35-40 hl/ha
HARVEST
Exclusively manual, usually in late September
PURCHASING
Entirely estate fruit
FERMENTATION
Wines ferment spontaneously in foudres, stainless-steel, 600-l demi-muids, or 228-l barrels. Red wines are destemmed, see a 1-2 day cold soak, and ferment spontaneously in stainless-steel tanks or foudres for c. 15 days.
EXTRACTION
Red wines see pumpovers during fermentation.
CHAPTALIZATION
Chaptalization if necessary
PRESSING
Pneumatic, whole-cluster direct pressing for whites, pneumatic pressing for reds
MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION
Spontaneous, in tank or barrel following alcoholic fermentation
ÉLEVAGE
Wines age in stainless-steel tanks, foudres, demimuids, or 228-l barrels for 11-24 months
LEES
Wines remain on their fine lees until assemblage prior to bottling
FINING & FILTRATION
Fined with diatomaceous earth, plate filtration
SULFUR
Applied at harvest and during elevage, with at most 25 mg/l free, 60 mg/l total