Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune du Château 1er Cru Blanc 2022, Burgundy

Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune du Château 1er Cru Blanc is a domaine wine blended from three of the estate’s Beaune Premier Cru vineyards: Les Aigrots, Les Sizies and Les Tuvilains. The Chardonnay is picked by hand into small crates and sorted bunch by bunch, then each plot is pressed and vinified separately before blending. The wine spends 9–10 months in French oak, with no more than around 15% new barrels, followed by a few months in stainless steel before bottling, which keeps the oak subtle and the fruit to the fore.

It pours pale gold with green highlights. The nose shows white peach and white-fleshed fruit, candied citrus and floral notes, with touches of brioche and gingerbread. The palate is rich yet poised, with a whisper of oak, gentle nutty flavours and a long, fresh finish.

Serve at 12–14°C. Bouchard suggests charcuterie, pies, hot pâtés and snails in garlic butter; it is also lovely with roast chicken, veal in a cream sauce or richer fish such as turbot or salmon. Beaune du Château Blanc is drinking well now and will keep for 5 years or more.

Bouchard Père & Fils is one of Burgundy’s great historic houses. Michel Bouchard, a cloth merchant from the Dauphiné, settled in Beaune and founded the business in 1731, and in 1775 his son Joseph bought the family’s first vines in Pommard. In 1820 the family acquired the medieval Château de Beaune, whose underground galleries became the house’s ageing cellars. The Henriot family took control in 1995, adding prestigious new vineyards, and in 2022 Bouchard joined Artémis Domaines. The house began moving to organic farming in 2009, and from the 2025 vintage all of its estate plots are certified organic. Its Beaune du Château cuvées, blended from Premier Cru vineyards on the domaine, have been released every year since 1907.