Edouard Delaunay Bourgogne Chardonnay 2022

Edouard Delaunay makes this Bourgogne Chardonnay from an estate revived by the fifth generation in the Hautes Cotes de Nuits, in Burgundy. The wine belongs to a range built around September, the month whose weather decides how the grapes finish ripening. Burgundy Chardonnay takes its shape from limestone and clay soils and a cool continental climate, where warm days and cold nights hold the acidity that keeps the wine fresh and defined. This bottling is aged entirely in stainless steel. The inert tanks add no oak and keep out oxygen, so fermentation and maturation preserve the grape's bright fruit and cut, giving a wine that is clean, precise and unmasked by wood. It shows pale straw with green glints, with a nose of green apple, lemon, pear and white flowers. The palate is dry and light to medium bodied, with crisp orchard and citrus fruit over a fresh, mineral line, closing on a brisk finish. This is Chardonnay in its leaner, more direct form. Serve well chilled at 9 to 11 degrees in a white-wine glass.