2024 Maison Champy, Chablis, White Burgundy, France.
The Maison Champy Chablis is fresh and steely with brisk citrus and green apple leading the way on the mineral driven medium bodied palate, this is a wine of precise clarity that was sourced from prime plots in the Chablis AOC on Kimmeridgian limestone that brings on the terroir wet chalky notes here. Chablis fans will really enjoy this one, with its lime and tart peach fruits, it was exclusively fermented and aged in stainless steel and only rested on the lees for about 6 months, to allow for complexity, but deliver a clean and vibrant pure Chardonnay. I’ve been lucky enough to try through most of the lineup in the past couple of years, finding Champy a quality Burgundy label, from the sublime value Bourgogne Blanc and Rouge to their impressive Premier Cru offerings, with the whites being personal favorites, like this one. I went through the collection from Maison Champy in San Francisco, Chicago and in New York this year and was treated to selection of wines that showed clarity and purity of place, again with elegance and charm throughout. This Chablis, delicious and pure, is a very solid value, especially these days and I highly recommend it.
The Maison Champy was originally established in 1720 by Edmé Champy, and is now operating as the oldest house in Burgundy, with the better part of three centuries the Champy’s and their heirs here have been, as their importer Massanois says, instrumental in building the international reputation of Burgundy and promoting the classic French Savoir Faire. The winery notes that Champy’s story is interwoven with some of the most important French historical figures of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Louis Pasteur and Gustave Eiffel, and many well known figures in the modern world also enjoy the wines here. Maison Champy owns 21 hectares of prime vineyards, which are farmed certified organic and spread across the Côte d’Or, proving high quality fruit throughout the range of offerings here. The winery and its 15th century cellars are located in Beaune, the pumping heart of the Burgundy region and its cultural center. Champy’s core plots are found on the hill of Corton, Beaune, Savigny-les-Beaune, and Pernand-Vergelesses, all within the greater Côte de Beaune, where some of the finest Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir vines are found, along with some Côte de Nuits parcels and some vines in Chablis, as seen here.
($32 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive