Abbotts & Delaunay Pays d'Oc Les Fruits Sauvages Chardonnay 2023

	By Bourguignon Laurent Delaunay
	Partly fermented and matured in new oak
	Delicious as an aperitif wine and at the table

Description

Who better than a skilled Bourguignon to make a fine Chardonnay in the South of France? Laurent Delaunay, scion of a Burgundy wine family, bought the small 'boutique winery' of the talented Australian Nerida Abbott in the village of Marseillette in 2005 and has since expanded the range.

The wood-matured Chardonnay is Delaunay's 'signature wine'. For this, he selects grapes in higher-lying plots in the Cevennes and Limoux, among others. He ferments a third of the yield in new oak barrels. That part also undergoes the second fermentation so characteristic of Bourgogne.

Laurent then assembles the oak-fermented wine with the stainless steel-fermented wine. He then lets the final assemblage mature 'sur lie' for another nine months with periodic batonnâge. The result is a well-made Chardonnay with delicious oak tones and a full, soft taste.