Domaine Florence Cholet Bourgogne Côte d’Or Blanc 2021

£26.95

Two sites just outside Puligny blend to make this delicious Bourgogne Blanc, made with an extended one-year elevage in old barrels. It’s a mini-Puligny with its succulent stone fruit and sense of chalky minerality.

Available on backorder

Colour

Red

Country

France

Domaine

Domaine Florence Cholet

Grape

Chardonnay

Vintage

2021

Region

Burgundy

Description

I first heard about Florence Cholet from an American acquaintance who was raving about meeting a future star. As luck would have it, Robert was in Burgundy tasting and he made an appointment to visit the next day. He knew immediately we had an exciting prospect on our hands! Florence has two parcels of Bourgogne Blanc, Les Parties and Les Equinzes, both lying just outside the Puligny boundaries. Her skillful light touch has given a wine which punches well above its weight which will drink beautifully over the next two to three years. No battonage after the Malolactic fermentation to retain freshness. Instead Florence leaves more lees in the wine – a better way of gaining richness and complexity without oxidation. Now made in the same way as the village whites, with a longer elevage but all in older barrels. Lemons, limes, nuts, quite ripe and creamy, but the acidity is there to provide a foil, and this is already looking delicious. Should be very good for summer 2024

About the Domaine

Florence Cholet is an exciting prospect. Widely travelled, she has worked across France, the US and Australia, and has now returned to tiny Corcelles les Arts to take on her family domaine.

She told us that picking date was key in 2020, as she thinks it always is. She doesn’t use much technical analysis, she knows her vineyards, tastes the grapes and looks at the skins when she’s deciding when to harvest.

The domaine no longer uses pesticides or herbicides, the vineyards are ploughed, and all picking is done by hand. The domaine’s old vines give naturally low yields and grape selection, in the vineyard and winery, is severe. Wine making is traditional, using a minimum of technology – new oak is used very sparingly, fermentations happen with natural yeasts and are left to run their course. Florence has increased the length of her white elevage – her whites are now bottled around January, so 13-14 months post-harvest. She does no battonage after the malolactic fermentation to retain freshness. Instead, Florence leaves more lees in the wine – a better way of gaining richness and complexity without oxidation.

Florence’s whites display the vintage’s character with style and energy – she’s outperforming some big names from her seemingly humble sites. Her reds are transparent, perfumed wines which I love to drink young, though something about their balance and energy suggests to me that they will surprise us in the cellar.

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