An introduction to Domaine d'Auvenay, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, Burgundy

Chevalier-Montrachet is a Chardonnay only Grand Cru appellation, and one of the most southerly Grand Crus of the Côte de Beaune, situated directly above the Puligny section of Le Montrachet. Bize-Leroy purchased this tiny 0.16 ha plot of old vines (planted in the 1940’s) from the Chartron family in 1992. Almost unparalleled in terms of quality and rarity (often less than 500 numbered bottles are produced), Domaine d’Auvenay’s Chevalier-Montrachet is considered one of the very best, texturally delicate yet powerfully aromatic wines. Remarkably long-lived, this white Burgundy is capable of ageing for 20+ years.

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Understanding Domaine d'Auvenay, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, Burgundy

Made from the region’s signature white grape Chardonnay, this wine is produced from hand-picked fruit from biodynamically farmed vines with a hands-off approach to winemaking. Using traditional old-basket presses, the fruit is fermented with indigenous yeasts in wooden vats before transferring to 100% new oak barrels from the François Frères cooperage where the wine ages on lees. Racked mid-way through élevage, and bottled without fining or filtering, this profound wine is a strikingly pure expression of its terroir. The wine has achieved high critical acclaim and has regularly received 98-100 points from major publications. The Wine Advocate, for instance, described the 2002 vintage as ‘a stunning, awe-inspiring example of its world-renowned vineyard’. Neal Martin (Vinous) wrote about the same vintage: ‘One of the greatest white Burgundy wines that I have ever drunk. It encapsulated everything magnificent, everything profound about white Burgundy’.

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