Vignerons Réunis de Buxy Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnay 2020

The delight and pleasure in drinking good Bourgogne Blanc such as the 2020 Vignerons Réunis de Buxy Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnay lies neither in power nor in the preponderance of new oak, rather in revealing the true character of Chardonnay. The 2020 Vignerons Réunis de Buxy Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnay offers the ethereal charm, finesse, purity, and subtlety of flavor of Chardonnay as well as plenty of good cheer in its thirst quenching drinkability. Sporting a brilliant hue with a glint of afternoon sunshine and a pleasing bouquet of spring flowers, citrus, and freshly picked summer apples, it would be hard not to like this wine. In the mouth, the wine’s bouquet re-emerges, offering subtle fruit tones, superb texture, and a refreshing mineral-driven finish. Although the Vignerons Réunis de Buxy always manage to fashion crowd pleasing Bourgogne Chardonnay, the 2020 Vignerons Réunis de Buxy Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnays strikes us as especially fine and a candidate for their finest Buxy to date. Enjoy this round, textured Côte Chalonnaise Chardonnay early and often. For optimal enjoyment, we suggest only moderate chilling (40º-45º F) of the 2020 Vignerons Réunis de Buxy Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnay in order to capture all of this wine’s charming flavors. Anticipated maturity: 2022-2024. Enjoy!

Although most hors d’oeuvres and light starters offer excellent accompaniments to the 2020 Vignerons Réunis de Buxy Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnay, shellfish and the fruits of the sea provide our favorite pairings with this friendly, quaffable Côte Chalonnaise Bourgogne Chardonnay. Scallops, shrimp, and prawns make good partners to this wine, as do mussels sautéed in a cream sauce infused with saffron. Baked, grilled, poached or sautéed flounder, sole or sea bass pair beautifully with this elegant white wine, too. And for those who eschew the fruits of the sea, there is chicken fricassee, light pastas, and salads. However, the glory of any good Bourgogne Chardonnay is its ability to shine unadorned, and the 2020 Vignerons Réunis de Buxy also shines brightly as an aperitif. Either way, before you know it, the glass and the bottle will be empty. Bon appétit!

Vignerons Réunis de Buxy fashions several tasty, gratifying white Burgundies. We discovered this tiny gem of a cooperative a decade ago and continue to be impressed by the consistent quality and value that this superbly run winery has to offer. Whether it is the winery’s excellent Premier Cru Montagny or Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnay, the thirty growers of the Vignerons Réunis de Buxy fashion white wines that are well worth seeking out. The wine for this month’s feature (Cuvée Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnay 2020) emanates from the growers’ vineyards surrounding the tiny Burgundy village of Buxy on the Côte Chalonnaise.

The Côte Chalonnaise is the least known of Burgundy’s wine regions, but this sequestered set of low hills and tiny villages has begun to garner considerable attention. Increasingly, the Côte Chalonnaise is becoming the source of many unexpected pleasures and a veritable treasure trove of beautiful wines at affordable prices. Situated to the east of the sleepy little town of Chalon-sur-Saône from which the region inherits its name, the Côte Chalonnaise is for all intents and purposes a continuation of the fabled Côte de Beaune that lies just to the north.

As in all of Burgundy, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir comprise the predominant grape varieties on the Côte Chalonnaise, with allowance made for small amounts of Pinot Blanc for the region’s white wines and Pinot Liebault and Pinot Beurot for its reds. The latter two Pinots are nearly identical to Pinot Noir. Four important communes dominate the region: Givry, Mercurey, Montagny, and Rully – all bona fide Burgundy appellations in their own right. In Givry and Mercurey, the emphasis is on the production of good to excellent red wines, as Pinot Noir reigns supreme in their vineyards. Meanwhile, Rully and Montagny specialize in fashioning delicious, easy to drink white Burgundies from Chardonnay grapes. The tiny town of Buxy is part of the Montagny appellation, which in recent years has begun to fashion wines that compete with many of the more renowned white Burgundies of the Côte de Beaune, where wines of comparable quality cost two and three times the price. The wines of the Côte Chalonnaise that are grown just outside the boundaries of the four major communes or exceed the legal production for their respective communes are sold as Bourgogne Blanc (Chardonnay) and Bourgogne Rouge, and they constitute some of the region’s best values and unexpected pleasures. Enjoy!