The Bouard-Bonnefoy domaine is a tiny one, with about 8 hectares of vines concentrated mainly in Chassagne-Montrachet. Carine Bonnefoy comes from a long line of vine-growers and winemakers in Chassagne, and she and her husband, Fabrice Bouard, took over her small collection of family vineyards in 2006. Bouard, an ex-special services policeman, has made winemaking his second career; he and Carine tend their plots like a couple of gardeners, farming according to lutte raisonnée (‘reasoned struggle’) principles. Chemical herbicides and pesticides are avoided at all costs, only indigenous yeasts are used in fermentations, and grapes are always harvested by hand. The couple still use an antique, hand-cranked wooden press and overwhelmingly favor used barrels for fermentation and aging. They even bottle their wines by hand (according to their importer, they probably only produce about 50 cases of Bourgogne Blanc in total in any given vintage—hardly a wine you’re going to see on every store shelf).

This bottling is every inch a “baby Chassagne”: It is sourced from a lieu-dit (named vineyard) called “Plantelonge,” a fairly high-elevation, southeast-facing site not far from the villages-designated vineyard “Les Pierres.” The wine was fermented on indigenous yeasts in used French oak, then aged in barrels (20% new) for one year.

As you might expect from 2015, this is an opulent, quite forward Bourgogne Blanc, offering loads of pleasure right now. In the glass, it’s a deep yellow-gold with slight hints of green at the rim, with a perfumed, fruity nose of yellow apple, salted lemon, and a hint of tropical fruit layered with notes of button mushroom, fresh cream, and brioche dough. “Layer” is a good word here: You can feel that this wine has an extra gear, and for all of its generosity it still cleans up nicely on the citrusy, mineral finish. If you’re enjoying a bottle now—which you should—I’d say give it about 30 minutes in a decanter before serving at 50-55 degrees in Burgundy stems (I know, I’m always urging warmer temps on whites, but they’re just so much more expressive when they’re not ice-cold). This is pretty substantial stuff, and I could see it being a serious utility player for many years to come—I’ll drink it with pleasure well through 2020, especially when some heartier seafood is on the table. If you’ve never poached fish in parchment, you should definitely give it a try—it’s a great way to preserve moisture and succulence. Check out this Italian-style version from swoosh-haired chef Anne Burrell. I think it’d be an absolute knockout with this knockout wine. Enjoy!