We taste dozens of white Burgundy each week and these experiences have made one thing crystal clear—the best price to quality in the famed region is often hailing from the small, artisanal producers of off-the-beaten-path sites in southern Burgundy. While many examples from top villages (Chassagne/Puligny/Meursault) are no longer worth the steep prices, there are still incredible values in Burgundy. Today’s 2013 Daniel et Julien Barraud, from the celebrated Les Pommards vineyard in the Saint Véran appellation, is a prime example. With weight, texture and minerality we’ve come to expect from the great villages of the Côte de Beaune, this serious Chardonnay represents an incredible value and is a prime offer to purchase by the case for year-round enjoyment. Do not miss this gem if you are a White Burgundy lover.

Jean-Marie Barraud, the founding father of this vigneron legacy, started out in 1902 as a sharecropper in Vergisson. The epitome of the Burgundian dream, by 1912, Jean-Marie had saved enough money to purchase the first parcels that would become Domaine Barraud. He passed the legacy, then in its infancy, onto Joseph and Marguerite who expanded their holdings with an eye towards premium sites. A natural entrepreneur, Joseph began selling to restaurants and started domaine bottling in the late-1930’s, which was definitely the early days of domaine bottling in Burgundy. By 1959, the next generation with Henri and Monique, Barraud’s inheritance was quite an established enterprise. Under Henri’s tenure, Saint Véran received its appellation status and the first single-vineyard, “Les Pommards,” was bottled. The fourth-generation, Daniel and Martine, took over in 1979 and maintained the family’s high level of quality, innovation and single-vineyard focus. Daniel became a member of GEST Beaune, which focuses on preservation of terroir. In 2006, their son, Julien, joined the family business following his education in Beaune. A traditionalist as well as an inherent innovator, Julien is passionate about vineyard work that results in the translation of terroir. He has implemented the practice of manual plowing, labor and harvest, which has achieved incredible results in their special pocket of the Mâcon.

 

In antiquity, Mâcon was a major Roman crossroads and an early site of cultivation. In more modern times, the wines of the Mâconnais became known as a less expensive corner of white Burgundy that delivered simple quaffing Chardonnay. Today, the appellation has evolved over the past couple decades to include serious examples that are garnering well-deserved praise when crafted by the right producers, but don’t take our word for it. The brass ring of Burgundy has also looked to the southern sub-region as a source of potential, including producers the famous Lafons and Leflaives. Within the Mâconnais, the charmed appellation of Saint Véran has become one of the most sought after sources of high-quality, serious Chardonnay. Today’s particular, single-vineyard bottling is derived from the northeastern-facing parcel of Les Pommards in Saint Véran, which boasts 40-year-old vines rooted in limestone soils that are perched high above an old quarry. Once the hand-harvested grapes reach the cellar, the Barrauds use a pneumatic press, which preserves the stems and grape seeds of the fruit. The must settles in thermo-regulated stainless overnight then the juice is racked by gravity into barrels. Fermentation and malolactic fermentation is naturally achieved in barrel through only native yeasts. The wine is aged for twelve months in oak, then is racked into stainless where it undergoes light fining and settling for two months. The wine is bottled without filtration. The result is a magnificent example of Burgundian Chardonnay that bests many top examples from famous villages for only $35 a bottle.