Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise
Vineyards at Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise
(Image credit: Getty)

Waiting patiently for your Burgundies from the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits to reach their fully mature exquisiteness? The five wine-producing communes of the Côte Chalonnaise a little further south provide some excellent options for earlier drinking, advises Clive Coates MW

Montagny

Domaine Françoise Feuillat-Juillot, Montagny 1er Cru

(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Travelling from the south upwards, we come first to Montagny. This is a Chardonnay-only appellation, the Pinot Noir being merely Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise.

Historically any Montagny with an alcohol of 11.5% or more could call itself premier cru, but this was changed in 2004. Yet most of the vineyards are still entitled to this superior level: 202 hectares of a total 306ha. There are 21 climats classified as premiers crus. Two-thirds of the production comes from the local co-op in Buxy. Once in the maw of the co-op, it is difficult and costly to extract oneself. Only at death or retirement does this become possible. Yet some have done so, including some of the more enterprising individual estates.

Best growers: Stéphane Aladame; Laurent Cognard; Françoise Feuillat-Juillot

Domaine Françoise Feuillat-Juillot, Les Coères 1er Cru 2013

18/20 (93/100)

Rich, full, poised, pure and profound. This is excellent.

Price: £17.90 Thorman Hunt, Vin Cognito

Drink 2016-2020

Alc 13%

Domaine Stéphane Aladame, Sélection de Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru 2013

17 (90)

Lovely ripe nose showing understated oak. Plenty of depth and style. Delicious.

Price: £16.58-£18.50 Goedhuis & Co, Liberty Wines, Montrachet, OW Loeb

Drink 2016-2020

Alc 13%

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Clive Coates MW
Clive Coates MW
Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer
Clive Coates is one of the world's leading wine writers. He published his first article in 1967. At first he concentrated on Bordeaux, becoming well known for his Chateau Profiles and Vintage Assessments. In 1984 he set up his own magazine, The Vine, and began to spend a lot more attention on Burgundy. Burgundy was going through a revolution, with a new generation of wine-makers who were vinifying more carefully, using temperature control for instance, cultivating their vineyards by increasingly biodynamic methods, and bottling and marketing their wines themselves. Clive was there from the beginning. With a group of professional wine friends he organised comprehensive vintage tastings; at three and en years on. He has written nine books on wine. Three on Bordeaux, three on Bordeaux and three on the Wines of France. He lives in the Mâconnais.