DOMAINE DE CHASSORNEY
Auxey-Duresses Les Crais 2020
Burgundy, France
Chardonnay from a fifty year old vineyard better known for its premier cru red wines, though this shines bright every year. The terroir here is a combination of sand and clay, producing a classic white Burgundy of depth, power and finesse. As we always find with wines from this parcel, there is a beautiful saltiness to the finish.
Chardonnay
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Frédéric Cossard is a larger than life character. He is a man with an infectious joie de vivre and a love of wine that runs deep. Fred wasn’t born into a family of vignerons and instead had to start from scratch, no mean feat in Burgundy.
His Domaine de Chassorney was born in 1996 with a few hectares of vines rented in Saint-Romain and Auxey-Duresses and now comprises ten hectares of vines across several villages. He and his wife Laure also act as a négociants, which gives them access to grapes from some of the greatest vineyards in Burgundy. These wines are bottled eponymously, as ‘Frédéric Cossard’.
The Cossards have worked organically from the outset and now focus on homeopathic treatments and remedies tailored to the needs of each site. When fruit is bought, they give the growers a guide for looking after the vines and ensure that work is carried out to their own lofty standards. In doing so they ensure that only the most pristine fruit makes it to their cellars tucked away in the hills of Saint-Romain.
Such scrutiny is necessary to make great wine with no additions. In recent years Fred has continued to pave the way by eschewing the use of oak barrels in favour of concrete eggs, earthenware jars and Georgian qvevris in a quest to further refine his wines. Whites are pressed directly, while reds infuse as whole bunches before being pressed off to these vessels for élevage. The result is Burgundy of rare liveliness, purity and detail.