BOURGOGNE CHARDONNAY > BOUCHARD Ainé & Fils

BOURGOGNE CHARDONNAY 2020

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2023 2024

Varietal

100% Chardonnay.

Tasting notes

Colour: Bright and crystalline gold with green reflects.
Bouquet: A complex and expressive nose with scents of flowers and fresh fruits, enhanced by light toasty and honey notes.
Palate: A worthy representative of the white Burgundy wine! A supple and pleasant chardonnay offering a perfect balance between freshness and smoothness.

Food and wine pairing

A perfect choice for aperitifs, starters and tapas, cold cuts, seafood and grilled fish.

Serving suggestions

Serve ideally chilled, at a temperature of about 12°C (54°F.).

Ageing potential

In good storage conditions, this wine can be kept for about 3 to 5 years.

Origins

The Bourgogne blanc appellation covers around 1,000 hectares spread across the entire Burgundy wine-growing region. The great diversity of terroirs found here means that the grape variety can be expressed in a wide range of ways, from flinty to buttery to acacia.

Our white Burgundy is mainly made from Chardonnay grapes harvested on selected terroirs in southern Burgundy: in the Mâconnais and Côte Chalonnaise. A small proportion of our cuvée also comes from vineyards in the Côte de Beaune.

The selection and vinification carried out by our teams is therefore very important in achieving a pure expression of Chardonnay in line with the House's expertise.

Vinification and maturing

Once the grapes had been sorted and destemmed, the must was extracted by pneumatic pressing, then cooled and left to settle for 24-48 hours. The juice was then brought to a temperature of 16-18°C. (61-64°F.) to start the alcoholic fermentation. The wine was then matured on its fine lees for 6 months, partly in stainless steel vats and partly in oak barrels, to give it all its suppleness and bring out its honeyed, subtly woody aromas.

Vintage : 2020

The current public health crisis has certainly marked this year’s harvest, which nonetheless has been able to go ahead! Despite the year’s record temperatures and lack of rainfall, there is been no lack of quality, although yields are down, with an especially mixed picture with regard to reds. However, these have generally been very well-balanced. Overall, we have seen nice levels of acidity, promising good aging potential…

All over Burgundy, 2020 was notable for its mildness and low rainfall. After a winter with no serious frosts, we went straight into a spring dominated by sunny, dry weather, resulting in very early bud break. Infrequent outbreaks of rain in June and July were not enough to stave off water shortages. Very high summer temperatures combined with intense sun exposure levels led to the vines gradually falling prey to hydric stress, causing delays to fruit ripening before harvest-time.

Once again, the vegetative cycle was shortened, being almost three weeks ahead of 2019’s. Thankfully, the harvest was saved by the relative cool of the nights. The harvest was of marvellous quality but there was very little juice in the red grapes (reduction of 30 to 50%), and reasonable potential alcohol, despite the heat. The whites, on the other hand, coped very well with these extreme conditions and yields were very good.

Relatively poor yields for the reds, normal yields for the whites. Some appellations achieved excellent levels of optimal ripeness, with 50% of grapes harvested with the ‘vendange entière’ (no destemming) approach.

Harvest started on the 21^stAugust for the Côte Chalonnaise, more specifically, the Givry reds and then on the 23^rd of August the first Chardonnay grapes were hand picked in the shape of the Beaune 1^er cru Les Marconnets.