In the last month I have been craving a bottle of Puligny Montrachet. I don’t know why. When I was working in Hollywood in the 1970’s, I was introduced to Puligny, and it stuck with me. I loved everything about the wine. So, when my young friend dangled that bottle in front of me, I was both salivating with desire and foaming at the mouth with envy. Alas, it was not to be. The wine was out of my reach.
But it was once not so. It was common, when I was coming up in the wine trade, to regularly drink wines like Les Pucelles. And not just Puligny. Chassagne, Batard, Chevalier and even Le Montrachet. Not to mention the other great appellations of white Burgundy.
Macon-Villages and St. Veran were daily quaffs. They were affordable then. Now, one of them can set you back $30 or more. Even a lowly Bourgogne Blanc commands prices in the $30+ for good producers. I found one at my local Central Market and spoiled myself with the 2023 Bourgogne Blanc Còte-D’Or “Les Parties” from Guillemard-Clerc, who also make a Puligny Montrachet “Les Pucelles.” Their Bourgogne Blanc vineyard is 100 feet from their Puligny vineyards. So, I got close.
As an Italian wine aficionado and lover, I’ve delved into Chardonnay from Italy over the years. It has been hit and miss for the most part.
Italians love Chardonnay. Who doesn’t, when it is good? So, it is only natural that Italian winemakers work chardonnay into their repertoire where applicable. And in Italy, it seems “applicable” is only limited to the ambitions of the winemaker and winery owner. Thus, one can find Chardonnay from Piedmont to Sicily, from Puglia to Valle d’Aoste, from Alto-Adige to Tuscany. You get my drift?
That said, some Chardonnays are better than others,
just like everywhere else in the world. But to achieve the greatness of what
the French have done in Burgundy with Chardonnay, well that is a high bar. I’m
not here to draw any false equivalents. There is only one Burgundy. But for
those of us who grew up drinking Macon-Village and St. Veran like it was water,
Italy does offer some meaningful options and they can be wallet friendly.
My starting place, for my palate, is the Langhe. Piedmont. There I have found wonderful alternatives. One of my go-to ones is the De Forville Chardonnay (Piedmont DOC). Pleasant, correct, not too overly anything (including pricewise), this is a very honest and reliable Chardonnay from Italy that does justice to the French gladiators in the Còte-D’Or.
There are others. Alto-Adige also produces some noteworthy ones, especially folks like Elena Walch and Alois Lageder.
It wasn’t too long ago that the Planeta family in Sicily made a world-famous name for themselves with their Chardonnay. It was a wine, then, that was exuberant and voluptuous. It seemed right for the times. Nowadays, wine drinkers are searching for Chardonnay wines to be a bit more nuanced and studied.
Look, the occasional roll-in-the-hay with a blowsy Chardonnay from Puglia or Tuscany can be a fun romp. It all depends on the moment and where you are on your own personal journey. There are no no-no’s in my mind. But there are moments, and you will know it, when wine transcends time and place. The gladiators from Burgundy know that, and those of us who track their paces know that those wines are unique to the place they come from.
So, if Chardonnay does well in Piedmont, for example, does that mean it has a place in the pantheon of white wines from the Langhe? Of course it does. But there are Italian varieties that fare just as well, or better, in the arena. And that is a story for another time.
In the meantime, I am excitedly anticipating opening my humble little bottle of Bourgogne Blanc from Guillemard-Clerc and reminiscing over that days when white Burgundy flowed in my life like water.
