This morning’s stupendous white Burgundy value might have you wondering if there’s any hope of finding affordability in the heart of the world’s most valuable Chardonnay vineyards: The two villages, Chassagne and Puligny, whose name is affixed to the glorious, hallowed Grand Cru of “Le Montrachet”. The answer is mostly no, but a tiny bit yes. A perfect example of what we now mean by “value” in this rarefied terroir is today’s show stopping bonus, a wine that in a recent line up stopped us all in our tracks. I would call this the quintessential “it” wine. And, as is so often the case with Burgundy, its label doesn’t give much away, unless you happen to be acquainted with the Château de Chassagne-Montrachet, a 13th-century mansion situated immediately downslope from the aforementioned “Le Montrachet”. After consulting a map to remind myself just how close this vineyard is to Montrachet, this wine makes total sense—until you get to the price, at which point it becomes sensational. True, it isn’t anyone’s idea of “cheap,” but for much less than $100 you get a world class white Burgundy non-pareil. There’s not much, don’t miss it!

These days, the château of Château de Chassagne-Montrachet is a bespoke bed and breakfast and winery (owned by the négociant firm Michel Picard), but one wing of the property—and virtually all its historic, perfectly situated vineyards—are owned by the Bader-Mimeur family. The Bader-Mimeur winery is housed in what was once the “north wing” of the original château, and their five hectares of vines in the original “Clos du Château” have been under their control since 1919. Generations of Baders and Mimeurs have farmed vines and made wine in Chassagne-Montrachet since the 1700s, but the hyphen came into the picture when Charles Bader, a wine merchant at the Halle-aux-Vins in Paris, married Elise Mimeur in 1920. Her father, Charles Mimeur, owned the Domaine du Château de Chassagne-Montrachet. Although most of the buildings of the château eventually found their way into other hands, the vineyards—98% of them, anyway—remained under the control of the Bader-Mimeur estate. Although they’ve since augmented their holdings, today’s wine comes exclusively from the 2.43 hectares of Chardonnay surrounding the historic château, just a short trot from the Montrachet Grand Cru (and, of course, the communal border with Puligny).

Astute, long-time SommSelect readers might recognize this wine, as we offered the 2018 about three years ago. That was the first of several extremely hot and dry vintages in Burgundy (thanks climate change) where “classic” was replaced by “new normal.” But with the 2021 vintage we saw a welcome, and likely fleeting, return to old-school Burgundian weather. The lack of extreme heat allows this wine to showcase its world famous balance and minerality, and there is remarkable tension here, too. Though there is a pleasant hint of oak-derived toastiness at this stage in its life, it’s judicious rather than overwhelming (just 20% new barrels are used). To me, it reads like a classic Chassagne-Montrachet, and, as you might have guessed already, I would have pegged it as a Premier Cru at a minimum if I had tasted it blind. This is serious white Burgundy, from the type of vintage that has become increasingly rare. 

In the glass, the wine is a glistening yellow-gold and jumps from the glass without much coaxing, although a 30-minute decant before service certainly won’t hurt. Aromas of just-ripe pear, yellow apple, lemon curd, lime zest, flint, and wildflowers carry over to a perfectly precise, medium-bodied palate, which is richly textured but underpinned by taut acidity. It’s a high-impact white—a gutsy, “gastronomic” wine that made me crave a perfect roast chicken more than any white wine I’ve tasted in recent memory. Will it age for a decade-plus? Yes, but it will be hard not to deplete your stash at the 3- to 5-year mark. Regardless, this is a big-time white suitable for any special occasion, and thanks to the “old-school” challenges of the 2021 vintage, we have only a few precious cases. Plan accordingly!