Montagny 1er cru Chazelle 2023 Domaine Aline Beauné

The Montagny 1er Cru Chazelle 2023 from Domaine Aline Beauné is a parcel-specific cuvée of remarkable gourmandise and expressiveness, perfectly illustrating the richness of the Premier Cru terroirs of the Montagny appellation. Rated 93/100 by the Revue du Vin de France, this organic Chardonnay signed by Aline Beauné combines bright fruit, elegance and structure in a generous and precise style that confirms the growing standing of this young domaine among the finest signatures of the Côte Chalonnaise.

The Chazelle climat

Chazelle is one of the 49 Premier Crus officially recognised in the Montagny appellation, spread across four communes: Buxy, Montagny-lès-Buxy, Jully-lès-Buxy and Saint-Vallerin. The Montagny vineyard, nestled at the southern tip of the Côte Chalonnaise, rests on clay-limestone and marly soils from the Lower Jurassic, with a Bajocian limestone subsoil at the summit of the hillsides, dating back more than 175 million years. The slopes face east and south-east, between 250 and 400 metres altitude, benefiting from generous sunshine whilst preserving the natural freshness of Chardonnay. This combination of limestone, marls and altitude gives the Premier Crus of Montagny their distinctive character: precise minerality, lively acidity and aromatic finesse that bring them closer in certain respects to the great Chardonnays of Chablis, whose Kimmeridgian subsoil outcrops near Buxy. Only Chardonnay is permitted across the entire appellation, for which this limestone terroir is of remarkable suitability.

Tasting profile

The colour is golden yellow with greenish reflections, luminous and limpid. The nose is immediately exuberant and generous, showing aromas of ripe yellow and white fruits, peach, apricot, candied pear, complemented by lightly toasted and buttery notes from controlled ageing, along with a delicate floral touch. On the palate, the wine reveals itself ample, round and gourmand, with a generous and velvety texture that reflects the fine ripeness of the 2023 vintage grapes. The acidity is present and well-integrated, bringing freshness and balance to a rich and expressive whole. The finish is long, fruity and slightly toasted, with that characteristic mineral return of the appellation's finest terroirs. A wine of great appeal, accessible from today and capable of evolving harmoniously over four to six years in the cellar.

The domaine

Aline Beauné founded her domaine in 2018 at Montagny-lès-Buxy, after 13 years of experience managing the winemaking of a respected domaine on the Côte de Beaune. When the cooperative cellar contract for the 5.5 hectares of family vines ended, she seized the opportunity to create her own domaine, with the ambition of producing wines of very high quality from the terroirs of Montagny and the Côte Chalonnaise. Committed to converting to organic farming, she has eliminated herbicides and chemical treatments, and incorporates biodynamic preparations to invigorate the soils. In the cellar, the Premier Crus are aged in oak barrels with very moderate use of new wood, never more than 10 per cent, to allow the terroir and fruit to express themselves fully, without artifice or over-extraction.

Food and wine pairings

This Montagny 1er Cru Chazelle will pair beautifully with pan-fried scallops with white truffle, roasted turbot with tarragon butter, Bresse chicken with cream and morels, sweetbreads in a casserole or lobster gratin. It will also find fine harmony with aged hard cheeses such as Comté aged 24 months or Alpine Beaufort. Served between 10 and 12 °C, it will express all the generosity and precision of its terroir.