Cellier Saint Benoit Arbois Pupillin Viandris Cuvée 1938 Melon à Queue Rouge Chardonnay 2022

Cellier Saint Benoit Viandris Cuvée 1938 comes from a tenth of a hectare of Melon à Queue Rouge, a Jura mutation of Chardonnay planted by Benjamin Benoit's great-grandmother.

The plot was planted in 1938 at over 10,000 vines per hectare, and the year is also that of Benjamin's grandfather's birth, so the cuvée carries some family weight. Melon is the Arboisien name for Chardonnay, and queue rouge refers to the pinkish tinge the stems take on; Stéphane Tissot believes the vines on the soils near Arbois mutated into this form over time. It fell out of favour in the more commercial 1960s because of its small berries and low yields, and today only a handful of growers still bottle it. Benjamin finds it ripens with slightly higher sugars and higher acidity than his other Chardonnay. He works this plot only by horse and sprays by hand, and trains the vines high at 1.8 metres so they are plaited down rather than trimmed. Winemaking follows the estate pattern: whole-bunch pressing into used 600-litre barrels, 12 months on lees, then six months on clean lees in steel before unfiltered bottling.

Approachable now and capable of a decade; serve at 10–12°C with roast chicken, pork in a mustard sauce or a slice of aged Comté.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.