Montanet-Thoden - 'Galerne' Vézelay Blanc 2020

750 ml | Alcohol/Vol: 13.5%

Valentin Montanet’s wines are the most frequently opened and effortlessly enjoyed white Burgundies in our wine shop. This vintage of Galerne is slightly more opulent than the typical Vézelay in that its citrus profile leans in the direction of caramelized lemon skin and bitter pomelo seeds as opposed to a puckery acidity. It’s no less mineral, however. The wine was vibrant paired alongside ripe La Tur—a soft, funky goat and sheep’s milk cheese.

The vines are only twenty years old but are already producing excellent fruit due to the organic cultivation and the presence of lots of limestone in the clay soils. It is a great place for fossil hunting!

This is a lively 100% Chardonnay packed with white flowers and impressive minerality backed by a bracing acidity and beautiful, rounded flavour. The grapes are hand-picked and then pressed very gently. It was fermented in stainless steel using wild yeasts to provide added complexity.

Notice on the label for this white wine there is no longer the Bourgogne Vézelay appellation because the white wines made in the Vézelay, Asquins, Saint-Père and Tharoiseau communes have been “promoted” to the same level as Volnay and Pommard for example, where they are permitted to just display the name of the lead commune, namely Vézelay. This is recognition of the quality of the white wines being produced here.