Burgundy, France
What do you get when you mix Japan, Germany and Burgundy. A winery to watch! Chanterives is a new producer in the Savigny-lès-Beaune region of Burgundy. This is one of the lesser known regions of Burgundy, but one that is known for its value, which if you know anything about Burgundy is pretty relative.
Chanterives was founded in 2010 by Guillaume Bott (the right-hand man of Simon Bize, one of the famous names of the Savigny-les-Beaune area) and Tomoko Kuriyama, who was the Winemaker of Friedrich Altenkirch in Rheingau Germany (2007-2011). Tomoko obviously hails from Japan, but she moved to Germany with her previous husband and kind of fell into winemaking. A vintage in 2005 at Simon Bize would lead her into a new relationship and a new winemaking venture in Burgundy.
They purposefully describe themselves as ‘négociant-vinificateurs‘. This is to underline the fact that they buy the grapes, then make and mature the wine rather than the typical negotiant that simply purchases finished wine to bottle under their label. In the early year’s new wineries in this area struggle to get good grape contracts, but this is where the experience and contacts of Guillaume have really brought dividends. They have been able to leap ahead of other smaller producers and make some amazing wines. Jancis Robinson no less gave a rave review of their first vintage (2010) and it all but sold out.
Elegance and purity is the hallmark of the 2011 vintage and this wine has a real femininity to it with its floral and citrus aromas framed by this lovely nutty complexity. The palate is densely structured with excellent acidity alongside savoury flinty notes. This is the type of white wine I just love. Plenty of flavour, but in balance with the acidity and structure.