“I am reminded of spring by the quality of the air …It is a natural resurrection, an experience of immortality.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Feb. 24, 1852, from “Early Spring in Massachusetts”
Drinking crisp white wines on a spring day can be an exhilarating, uplifting pleasure just like Thoreau’s experience of fresh spring air. Two delicious 2015 wines from northern Burgundy, the Domaine d’Edouard, Bourgogne Côtes D’Auxerre Chardonnay and the Domaine Amaury Beaufort, “Vaumorillon” Bourgogne Tonnerre, offer perfect choices.
Neither Bourgogne Côtes D’Auxerre nor Bourgogne Tonnerre enjoys the immediate international name recognition of their famed neighbor, Chablis. Yet each of the lesser known appellations enjoys limestone rich terroir and a cool, yet sunny climate similar to Chablis. Hard working, focused vignerons such as Edouard Lepesme and Amaury Beaufort capitalize fully by offering scintillating Chardonnay-based white wines of excellent quality, distinctive personality and terrific value.
Amaury Beaufort comes from a well established family in Champagne. But he studied winegrowing in Burgundy at Beaune, and today he works east of Chablis in a small village near the city of Tonnerre. There he grows Chardonnay organically on steep hillsides rich in Kimmeridgian limestone. Painstaking manual labor in the vines gives tiny yields to enhance the quality of the fruit. And in the cellar, Beaufort takes a non-interventionist approach by using large neutral oak barrels for aging while adding little or no sulfur before bottling the wines.
His delicious 2015 Domaine Amaury Beaufort, “Vaumorillon” Bourgogne Tonnerre offers a golden color with aromas of citrus. floral notes and pleasant, subtle earthiness. In the glass, creamy lemon flavors unfold balanced by absolutely refreshing freshness and mouthwatering mineral sensations. The dry, yet deliciously fresh lingers pleasantly. The wine carries only 11.5% alcohol by volume and is simply a real pleasure to drink. Available for $27.99 at Chambers Street Wines.
At Domaine d’Edouard in the village of Vaux-Auxerre to the west of Chablis, grower Edouard Lepesme uses a certified organic approach on the 33 acres of vineyards that he purchased in 2014.
“The soil must be alive to be the best partner of the vineyard,” he notes in explaining his philosophy behind the labor intensive organic method.
The vines date from the 1960’s and enjoy chalky limestone soils. Lepesme harvests manually and allows the grapes to ferment with indigenous yeasts. He favors a pure style by fermenting and finishing the wine in neutral Burgundy oak barrels, and he bottles with minimal sulfur additions to preserve natural personality of the fruit and terroir.
The 2015 Domaine d’Edouard, Bourgogne Côtes D’Auxerre Chardonnay opens with a light yellow color with engaging floral, light fruit aromas and notes of honey. In the glass, ripe apple and underlying citrus flavors balance beautifully with subtle oaky notes, zesty acidity and a touch of creaminess. The wine’s seamless complexity and finesse carries through the fruity, yet bone dry finish. This is an outstanding effort and a terrific value at $22.99 from Chambers Street Wines.