Clotilde Davenne Côtes d'Auxerre Bourgogne Blanc 2022

Price drops to $25 per bottle when you purchase 12 or more bottles!

95 point Bourgogne Blanc...as we live and breathe! This isn’t some flash-in-the-pan, caught the critic on a good day sort of wine, either – Clotilde Davenne has been building to this for two decades. Don’t expect these wines to stay so well-priced for long… and be sure to get as much as you can, now!

Clotilde Davenne is a Burgundy native, who just so happens to have recently held the title of chief oenologist for Jean-Marc Brocard – a Chablisienne legend. But she also traveled far and wide, making everything from Beaujolais to California sparkling wine, before returning to Burgundy. Since 2005, she has focused on building her own label, making wines from Chablis, Saint-Bris, Irancy, and here in the Côtes d'Auxerre (with a bit of Cremant d’Bourgogne on the side).

For this stunning 100% chardonnay, the fruit hails from the vineyard of Préhy in Yonne, grown on the peaks of the hills that surround the neighboring village. Chablis is only a couple kilometers away, and the same Jurassic limestones of Kimmeridgian and Portlandian soils dominate the vineyard. The site is home to roughly 50-year-old vines planted in the 1970s, picked painstakingly by hand as the individual clusters mature.

The grapes are fermented entirely in stainless steel vats with native yeasts for both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations. Aging is 12 to 18 months on the fine lees before filtration and bottling, yielding an intense, pure, and vibrant chardonnay that seriously delivers. A bouquet of intoxicating white flowers, with a medley of dried apricots and golden plums, some toasty notes of hazelnuts, with an earthy minerality that makes this exceedingly complex. A piquant core of citrus – from Valencia orange to pink grapefruit, and key lime carries this effortlessly...and a little flourish of lemongrass and thyme on the finish extends this all impressively. This competes with plenty of Premier Cru Burgundy, at a price that seriously overdelivers!

PAIRING IDEAS: Day Boat scallops, seared hard on one side, then mounted with foamy, browned butter is my choice here – served on an herb and chicory salad with a Thai-influenced vinaigrette. Delish!