2022 Auxey Duresses Blanc, Domaine Fabien Coche, Burgundy

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or. Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

A small village in a side valley off the Côte de Beaune, with a slightly cooler local climate making for a more austere style of Burgundy. Nonetheless this can be an excellent source of relatively inexpensive wine in warmer years, or from top producers. At the moment production is about 75:25 red to white. The reds can age well, while the whites can have a most attractive minerality.

Fabien Coche is a fourth-generation vigneron who took over from his father, Alain, in 2005. From the ’20 vintage the name of the domaine changed from Coche-Bizouard to Fabien Coche. The Coche family is well known in Burgundy: Raphaël Coche-Dury is a cousin, and the two domaines were one until they split in 1949.