Magnum Saint-Romain ’Sous la Velle’ - Chardonnay (22) H&G B

Chardonnay | perceel 'Sous la Velle' | 2,5 hectare | precies onder het dorp | 370 meter hoogte | stokken 60+ jaar oud | terroir van mergel en kalksteen | vergisting en rijping voor 12 maanden in Franse barriques, 10% nieuw | stoerder | peer | beetje geroosterd | wit fruit | souplesse | goede body | vleugje jodium | fijne zuren | vetje

Henri & Gilles Buisson 

Franck and Frédérick Buisson zijn de huidige generatie wijnmakers in dit familiebedrijf. Specialisten in Saint-Romain en ondertussen ook bekend als de beste producent van het dorp. Waar het jaren geleden nog te koel was in Saint-Romain om echt serieuze wijnen te maken, zijn de wijmakers nu in staat net zulke mooie wijnen te maken als in Meursault, Chassagne- en Puligny-Montrachet. Het domein heeft 19 hectare aan wijngaarden en is gestart in 1940. Vanaf 1970 werken ze al volledig biologisch. 

Review

The 2021 Saint-Romain Sous la Velle offers up aromas of pear, white flowers, citrus oil and freshly baked bread, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny palate with good flesh on its structural bones. This chiseled but charming white will reward a bit of bottle age. 90+/100

Saint-Romain's reference point, this 19-hectare domaine has been estate bottling since the late 1940s and farming organically since the 1970s. Today, brothers Franck and Frédérick Buisson preside over the vineyards and cellar, where white grapes are sorted, crushed and pressed for two and a half hours and musts are barreled down with minimal settling. Reds see gentle extraction, generally with some 50% whole bunches, though that proportion was somewhat reduced in 2021 given the vintage conditions. The result is elegantly textural, chiseled wines that can age very well but are also hard to resist young. After a series of sunny vintages, where Saint-Romain's altitude helped to retain freshness, don't count out the 2021s, a more challenging year that has nevertheless produced some beautifully electric, saline whites and perfumed, supple reds.