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Domaine Guy Amiot, Bourgogne Chardonnay

Burgundy, France 2014 (750mL)
$32.00
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Earth
Body
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SommSelect

Domaine Guy Amiot, Bourgogne Chardonnay

When we offered the 2013 vintage of this wine late last summer, we were very impressed by how much depth and complexity it offered for something with a simple ‘Bourgogne’ classification (and price). And, given our experience with whites from the generous 2014 vintage, we weren’t surprised when Amiot’s 2014 Bourgogne Chardonnay delivered the goods once again.
This bottling, sourced from old vines just outside the Chassagne-Montrachet AOC boundary, performs like a (more expensive) village-level Chassagne, even if it doesn’t carry the designation. To put it bluntly, this wine is just a really good deal, which gets harder and harder to say with each new Burgundy vintage. This has become one of our go-to ‘daily drinkers’ at SommSelect, and having a case of this on hand is hardly an extravagance; it’s a critical household staple, like Maldon sea salt or good olive oil. If you drink white Burgundy often, this is one you don’t want to miss!
In my view, great wine estates are the ones that treat their lower-end wines with as much care as their Grand Crus. Guy Amiot is synonymous with serious Chardonnay. The domaine was founded in 1920 in Chassagne-Montrachet and was one of the first in the area to “estate-bottle” its wines. Over several generations, the Amiot family has acquired pieces of most of the best vineyards in Chassagne, including precious premier cru sites such as “Champ Gains,” “La Maltroie” and “En Cailleret,” where their vines are 75 years old. They also have a tiny chunk of the grand cru “Le Montrachet.” They craft more than a dozen distinct bottlings of Chardonnay, all of them benchmarks of elegant, traditionally made white Burgundy.

As noted above, the vineyard source for this wine is a half-hectare parcel with nearly 50-year-old vines; it is situated in the town of Chassagne but not within the delimited area of the AOC. This wine was partially fermented in barrel (about one-third) and partially in stainless steel, after which it spent 12 months aging in barrel, where it underwent periodic batonnage (lees stirring). One of the main things we noticed in the 2013 version of this wine is that it was simply “bigger” than most Bourgogne Blancs. This is even more true in 2014.

In the glass, the 2014 is a deep yellow-gold with slight green reflections at the rim, with an assertive tangle of aromas that includes yellow apple, pear, a hint of lemon blossom, acacia flowers, button mushroom, fresh cream, raw hazelnut and wet stones. On the palate it is broad and satisfying, with plenty of refreshing acidity and mineral grip. While it would age with ease and grace for a good five years, it’s accessible and delicious now; simply decant it about an hour before serving at cellar temp (55-60F); not too cold or the nose will be closed and texture will come across leaner. The temperature and decanting is key if consuming the wine young, as it is a completely different wine after it opens up. It’s a gutsy white that has me in a roast chicken frame of mind—I’ve made this version with wild mushrooms a few times lately and it is incredible with white Burgundy.
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Country
France
Region
Burgundy
Sub-Region
FranceBourgogne Blanc (near Chassagne-Montrachet)
Soil
Limestone and Clay
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Chardonnay
Alcohol
13.5
OAK
10% New French
TEMP.
55-60
Glassware
White Wine / Burgundy
Drinking
Now-2022
Decanting
60 Minutes
Pairing
Roast Chicken & Mushrooms

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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