2020 Domaine Guegnon Remond Saint-Veran 750 ml

When you buy a Chardonnay from the Mâconnais, which sits to the south of Burgundy’s most revered vineyard land, you’re not paying for a famous winemaker, a legendary label, or the prestige of a famous parcel. You’re paying for the wine in the bottle, period.

Wine writer Andrew Jefford once described the Mâconnais as “rumpled pastureland on which vines perch wherever a promising hill shows up,” also saying the wines “offer some of France's best white wine value.” That’s undoubtedly true. There’s a ray of golden sunshine in every bottle of Chardonnay from the Mâconnais. The combination of limestone-rich soils and a slightly warmer climate than in the Côte d'Or to the north helps give the wines a plump, juicy, charming profile that is closer to the California end of the Chardonnay spectrum.

Surrounded by Pouilly-Fuissé vineyards, the Saint-Véran AOC has long been considered among the greatest values in all of Burgundy. In fact, we learned that Saint-Véran is currently—and justifiably—seeking Premier Cru recognition for some of their vineyards. Based on this bottle, they clearly deserve it.

Domaine Guegnon-Remond’s Saint-Véran is such a fine example. It’s made from 30-year old vines grown in a single vineyard called “La Côte Rôtie” (“roasted slope”) on the Davayé side of the rock of Vergisson, the limestone massif that is home to some of Southern Burgundy’s greatest white wines.

Clean, fresh, and lively, with creamy and toasty notes that come from 100% malolactic fermentation—but not new oak—this is a remarkable Chardonnay value for weeknight consumption, the kind of wine you want in your hand at the stove and all through dinner.