Bret Brothers Mâcon-Chardonnay Climat Les Crays 2023

Organic. The older citizens of Chardonnay near Tournus will tell you that their village provided the name for the famous Burgundy variety. What is certain is that the word “Chardonnay” comes from the Latin “cardus”, which means “thistle”—spikey plants that grow particularly well on limestone soils! The Les Crays terroir lies in the hamlet of Champvent, and the name itself, from the French for chalk (craie), gives you a clue to the nature of the soils, where white limestone rocks lay scattered throughout the clay strata. Jean-Philippe Bret tells us it is not easy to source organic vineyards in his area; he stuck gold with this 0.4-hectare parcel of 30- to 40-year-old vines. Vinified entirely in barrels in 2022, this cracking white Burgundy combines textural quince and Granny Smith fruit with a precise stony palate and fine, chalky close.