£21.85, Private Cellar
Laurent Savoye is best known for his Domaine des Combiers Beaujolais wines, but in 2020 he made this creamy, mineral Mâcon-Chaintré from Chardonnay vines he rented in the very stony Les Perrières lieu-dit (named location) for the first time.
After ageing the wine for eight months in 600-litre old barrels, this polished white Burgundy is the result. With floral and roast almond notes and just a hint of vanilla on the nose, the palate has a delicate honeyed toast flavour, creamy richness and a salty, mineral undercurrent.
If you like the sound of it (I hope you do), be warned that there is no 2021 to follow. The devastating spring frosts wiped out any hope of a viable harvest.
Mâcon-Chaintré is not as well known as some of the other 26 communes that are allowed to add their name to the Mâcon appellation, but it’s well positioned in the far south of the Mâconnais (Burgundy's southernmost region) with Pouilly-Fuissé to its west and Saint-Véran to the south.
The 2020 Les Perrières isn't a wine that demands food, but it goes very well with creamy dishes – pasta, chicken, fish – and with mayonnaise and hollandaise sauces, which gives quite a wild field. I enjoyed it with brown shrimps and prawns, both with and without mayo, and chicken with hollandaise. Fish pie and simple grilled fish come to mind, too.
14%. Empty bottle weight: 579g.
Laurent Savoye Domaine des Combiers Mâcon-Chaintré Les Perrières 2020, Burgundy, France
£21.85, Private Cellar