Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Fairendes

The life partnership of Laura Coffinet and Philippe Duvernay began like myriad other unions in Burgundy—two, generations-old winemaking families woven around a small, exceptional parcel of handed-down vines. Similar beginnings aside, Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay (est. 1989) have managed to stand apart from their neighbors in that their vineyard holdings reside in illustrious village of Chassagne, in the southern Côte de Beaune. Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay farms just seven vineyards in Chassagne, including the famed Grand Cru Bâtard-Montrachet. The estate encompasses seven hectares across the appellation in total, four of which are dedicated to its outstanding white wines, in particular Chassagne-Montrachet, and three hectares dedicated to red wines. This specialist estate produces beautifully crafted wines that capture the intense aromas and flavor of their distinguished terroir and which are capable of ageing for decades. Bastien, the couple’s son, has been working in the winery since 2012—the next generation to carry the torch for this unique property.

1er Cru Fairendes is the northern-most and highest in elevation of the numerous sites or lieux dits of the 1er Cru Morgeots. Morgeot is mostly red wine vineyards, with its rich intense clay, but Fairendes, being higher on the slopes, has more limestone rocks and thinner topsoil over its limestone bedrock, making it more appropriate for Chardonnay than Pinot Noir.

Grapes are hand-harvested at optimum ripeness in small bins, and carried to the winery for a gentle pressing in the pneumatic bladder press. The must is allowed to settle for 24 hours (debourbage) to allow the gross lees to settle out, and the wine descends by gravity into small oak barriques for primary and malolactic fermentations. The must is stirred (batonnage) very rarely during malolactic fermentation, as Philippe Duvernay prefers to allow the wine to develop without any oxidative notes. The wine is aged 15 months in 1/3 new oak barrels.

1er Cru Fairendes has a rich intense depth to it, a fatness of ripe pear and apple complemented by mushroom and earth tones.