As much as we would like to quench our thirst with Chardonnays made in Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet on a daily basis, their prices these days are just too rich for our blood, and possibly a lot of wine drinkers out there too. The likes of Saint-Aubin, Marsannay, Ladoix-Serrigny, Pernand-Vergelesses, Savigny-les-Beaune, Pouilly-Fuissé and many others have also wiped off much of the obscurity dust on them and became hugely popular (and invariably expensive).
However, if we comb through the out-lying areas of Burgundy carefully, gems can be found quite easily without breaking the bank and one such area is Mercurey in the region of Côte Chalonnaise, situated just north of Macôn but south of the famous Côte d'Or. Mainly devoted to Pinot Noir, white Mercurey (usually Chardonnay) is a little rarer as it only accounts for a fraction of the total production capacity in the appellation. We tried a beautiful bottle made by Alain and Isabelle Hasard of Les Champs de l'Abbaye recently and the wine, albeit at 10 years old, showed prominent flinty notes that are typical of a well-made white Mercurey. Bright deep lemon yellow in colour, with ripe lemons, ripe ENVY apples, toasted & buttered brioche, tropical tones and saline with a zingy, taut, mineral backbone. This paired nicely with some Penang style char kway teow, kuih pie-tee and oyster omelette, but frankly, it was quite delicious on its own, especially on a warm day.
Drinking supremely well at the moment and we are pleased to offer this artisanal, biodynamically made "La Brigadière" 2010 at $59 nett per bottle to wine lovers who would like to get a taste of this fantastic daily drinking Burg that punches above its weight class. If you haven't had any Burgundy whites that have had some age on them, this is your chance. Get in touch soon...before they are gone!
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