2017 SAINT VÉRAN Prélude Domaine Frantz Chagnoleau, Lea & Sandeman

SAINT VÉRAN

2022 Prélude Domaine Frantz Chagnoleau

IN STOCK
Grapes Chardonnay
Colour White
Origin France, Burgundy
District Mâconnais
Village Saint Véran
ABV 13%

The Prelude is a blend of 4 parcels - 3 south facing and 1 west facing that make up Frantz's warmest sites (but everything is relative at this domaine!). There is lots of limestone here - but the wine is always broader and more expressive because of the exposure. With real zip up-front - this is lovely. More weight and power builds in the mid-palate. Really satisfying and more charming because these sites benefitted from the sunshine of 2022, but through well-judged early picking (Frantz's earliest ever, 24th August) he's manged exquisite balance - this is totally delicious. (Same élevage in Demi Muids as the Viré-Clessé - but here 10-12% new. Bottled in early August 2023.) L&S (Nov 2023)

*Case price discount: Mix any 12 bottles of wine (or 9 litre equivalent) or 6 bottles of Champagne, Spirits, Sweet Wine or Fortified (4.5 litres) to get the discounted 'case price' for each bottle.

Two thirds comes from Prissé and one-third Chasselas, so a blend of both sides of St-Véran. Half has been made in tank and half in wood, mostly larger barrels. Bottled in August. Lemon and lime colour. A little riper and softer on the nose, but kept in place by the tank component. All in white fruit with some weight behind. 13.5% alcohol but has retained a certain precision even so. Drinking range: 2025 - 2027 Rating: *** Jasper Morris - Inside Burgundy  (Aug 2024)

The 2022 Saint Véran Prélude is a blend of four warmer south-facing parcels, 60% in Prissé and 40% in Chasselas, matured for 12 months, 50% in stainless steel and 50% in demi-muids. This has just gone into its shell a little since I tasted it last year, light touches of white peach and hints of chalk. The palate is very well balanced. There is density here rather than fatness thanks to the acidity, lively at the moment, just a patina of wood to be absorbed on the finish, so afford this 8-10 months in bottle. Drinking range: 2024 - 2032 Rating: 90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2024)

The 2022 Saint-Véran Prélude comes from a blend of parcels in Prissé and Chasselas, matured foudres and demi-muids. It has a lovely bouquet with yellow fruit, light jasmine and subtle leesy scents, beautifully defined. There is plenty of energy on the palate, a crisp line of acidity, very citric and energetic. There's a twist of sour lemon right on the finish. Classy. Drinking range: 2024 - 2032 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Aug 2023)

Domaine Frantz Chagnoleau

Frantz Chagnoleau and his wife Caroline Gon, who was until 2022 also the winemaker at the Comte Lafon Mâcon operation, are rising stars of the Mâconnais. Together they have a small domaine consisting of 3.5 hectares of Mâcon in a single block in Saint Albain, and several small plots in Viré Clessé, Saint Véran and Pouilly Fuissé, making up 6.8 hectares in total. All the vineyards are organically farmed (Ecocert certified).

Great care is taken at harvest to pick at the optimum moment for sugars, acidity and aromatic precursors, and they will stop the picking between parcels if they think that the ripening is not even across the whole domaine. Grapes are manually picked into 25kg cases, so as to get whole, undamaged grapes to the winery. After careful pressing, a very non-interventionist vinification takes place with natural yeasts in oak foudres.

The wines are kept on the lees to preserve freshness until the beginning of summer, when they are racked and lightly filtered, before bottling before the next harvest, except for some of the top wines which are aged for another six months in tank in order to develop fully. The wines are in a style which is bright and incisive, expressive and pure - and well worth seeking out.

Macon Villages Le Clos Saint Pancras : 3.55 ha
These vines were planted in 2000. Frantz uses a little bit of new wood - 10%. Élevage in demi-muids. This is the most northerly plot he works and it is high (350m) - facing east and made up of mineral, stony soil.
Viré Clessé Les Raspillères : 0.73 ha
Planted in 2005. A 30% slope and poor soil, thin at the top. Originally planted with Gamay, it was abandoned after phylloxera, then brought back from being scrubland by a forester who was passionate about wine and who realised it had once been a vineyard.
St Véran Prélude : 2.3 ha
Poor, calcareous soils. 15% new wood in demi-muids (500l barrels). 45 year old vines in several plots - the earliest ripening.
St Véran la Roche : 0.42 ha
70 year old vines at 200m in Chasselas, on marl, in mid-slope. Some is aged in demi-muids, but mostly it's in barrel with 10% new wood.
St Véran à La Côte : 0.25 ha
The highest vineyard of the domaine at 400m, on red earth, in Chasselas. Aged in demi-muids with no new wood.
St Véran La Fournaise : 0.21ha
All aged in demi-muids with no new wood. The whitest and most mineral soil they have.
Pouilly Fuissé Pastoral : 0.45 ha
Pouilly Fuissé Madrigal : 0.25 ha
From Vergisson, (mostly 'en Carmentrant') and all aged in barrel, but no new wood even if some are recent.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
  • For full delivery details see our Delivery page.
  • We offer free nationwide* delivery for all orders over £150 with our own vans. We also offer an express delivery service for an additional charge.
  • Order & Collect from any of our 5 London shops. Order by Midnight for collection the next working day from 11am.
  • Private wine storage: we offer a full In Bond and Duty Paid private wine storage service - find out more here.

RELATED PRODUCTS

ORDER     COLLECT

ORDER ONLINE AND COLLECT FROM ONE OF OUR SHOPS