Elegant, Flinty, Green Apple

Burgundy / White / Chardonnay / Sustainable

Pure Chardonnay grown in southeast-facing estate vineyard (lieu-dit) ‘Plantelonge,’ just east of villages-level vineyard ‘Les Pierres’ in Chassagne-Montrachet.  Hand-harvested are pressed in an upright wooden press, cranked by hand. Fermented on indigenous yeasts in French oak barrels. Aged for one year in barrel, with 20% new oak. 

Notes on the producer

Domaine Bouard-Bonnefoy sets the standard for naturally made, profoundly flavorful white Burgundy. Consider the family’s hand-cranked wooden press, the mini-family cellar and the bottling “line,” where each bottle is corked and labeled by hand—when someone says they are searching for an authentic wine far removed from today’s hyper-technology and trends, they’re looking for Bouard-Bonnefoy wines.

This winemaking family represents a Burgundy we thought long gone, but really the Bouard-Bonnefoy clan embodies the sort of artisanal spirit to which we’ve always been drawn in our three decades of visiting the Côte d’Or.

What Chassagne’s many beautiful vineyards offer, the Bouard-Bonnefoys capture faithfully—these are wines that astound with their pure aromas, their deep flavours and their ability to seduce from the very first sip.

Nothing rattles winemaker Fabrice Bouard, who in his 40s is already on his second career—his first being a bodyguard for French dignitaries. His wife, Carine Bonnefoy, represents the fourth generation of a Chassagne winemaking family. Their estate has always been small, a labour of love with wines mostly sold to locals and friends. In 2006, Fabrice and Carine took over the family production, with Carine’s father (well-known in the village for being one of the more diligent grape growers around) assisting in the fields.