This is made from a parcel of Chardonnay and Savagnin on gneiss soils. The expressive potential of Chardonnay is known. It is a great grape and in this wine you see it's myriad possibilities. It is inflected with Western Loire sea spray yet has some of the buxom flesh seen in Burgundy, additionally it has a salty umami length from Savagnin and altogether it has a mystique, a pull to the senses. This is another dimension altogether - richness, spine tingling acidity and a generosity across the palate that is immersive.

A superb wine, if not conventional, it is quite without doubt, exceptional. Meditation..

Jerome Bretaudeau set up on his own in 2005 having made wine for others for the previous 10 years, notably Jo Landron at Domaine de la Louvetrie.

His Domaine de Belle-Vue is today one of the leading lights in the region and the quality of his wines is outstanding, indeed there is an underground buzz on these wines amongst France’s best wine bars and bistros.

Three things set him way apart from the rest and are the reason that his wines are so good; he harvests by hand, his vines yield only 35hl/ha (in a region where 90hl/ha is normal!) and he only uses the available natural yeasts for fermentation. With these principles in mind, Bretaudeau stands beside others in our portfolio like Belliviere, Tue-Boeuf and Foillard.

.

• Tweet