Grapes: Chardonnay
Region: Burgundy, France
Vintage: 2024
Viticulture: Organic + Biodynamic practices
Soils: Stony soils + limestone
⅔ from Maranges, ⅓ from Pierres Dorées in the southern Beaujolais, with fossiliferous Bajocian limestone soil
Vinification: Crushed, long (6-hour) press cycle, ambient yeast fermentation with pied de cuve, aged for 10-12 months in 228L and/or 600L barrels, blended and aged with the fine lees in stainless steel tanks for an additional 5-7 months, no fining, occasional light filtration, minimal SO2 addition only if necessary during aging and before bottling.
Aging: Aged 10-12 months in 228L to 600L barrels
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: Minimal added only if necessary during aging/before bottling
Notes from the Importer: Maison Chanterêves is the micro-négociant project of winemakers Tomoko Kuriyama and Guillaume Bott. Japanese by birth, Tomoko studied at the respected wine university in Geisenheim, Germany, becoming estate manager at the renowned Friedrich Altenkirch (once vintner to the Kaiser) in the Rheingau. In France, Tomoko and her husband Guillaume, formerly winemaker at Simon Bize, have teamed up since 2010 to craft remarkable wines from a cellar tucked under a modern house in Savigny-lès-Beaune.
The couple buys small quantities of organic grapes from various vineyards in Burgundy (and other appellations). They employ a high percentage of whole cluster fermentation and a very low dose of SO₂. These are wines full of energy but very much in the “natural wine” aesthetic: straightforward expressions, reflecting a fresh-faced purity without artifice, embellishment or pretension – sans maquillage. Wine writer Steen Öhman characterizes the wines as “made with a German precision, a Japanese attention to detail, and a French knowledge of the terroir ….” APPELLATIONS: Saint-Romain, Chassagne-Montrachet, Pommard, Volnay, Nuits-Saint-Georges
