Roc Breïa Chardonnay 2023

Roc Breïa is a Chardonnay from the village of Bray in the northern Mâconnais, bottled as Vin de France rather than under the Mâcon appellation.

Bray belongs to the zone that also takes in Cruzille and Verzé, one of the cooler, later-ripening corners of the Mâconnais. The vines face west and the site is windy, which keeps disease pressure low, and the fruit comes from plantings dating to the mid-1940s and mid-1970s. Working with the vigneron Bastien Cubillé, Dancer has been bringing the soils and vines back into balance with cover crops and inter-vine cultivation. Winemaking is deliberately plain: the bunches are pressed straight to used 500-litre barrels for fermentation, and the wine is bottled unfiltered with a very small sulphur addition. Labelling it Vin de France removes any restriction on picking dates. The style is pure and linear, with citrus and nectarine fruit rather than sun-ripened weight.

Give it air, ideally a decant, and drink over the next five years, with oysters, grilled fish or roast chicken, at 10 to 12°C.

*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.