100% Chardonnay
First wine
Words below by Chateau Clarisse
Our first white wine "Clarisse, Chardonnay"
 
Very first white wine in our history “Clarisse, Chardonnay” on this 2023 vintage. A lot has been achieved since the plantation of our first Chardonnay plot (plot n°1 – 40 acres) in 2020, with some of the vines coming directly from the famous Domaine de Bize in Savigny Les Beaune in Burgundy. This grape variety, unusual in Bordeaux (which will lead us to be labelled as Vin de France), is growing very well on our clay & limestone soils. This has been confirmed by the numerous soils studies we have made with the help of our œnologue Julien Viaud, from famous Michel Rolland consulting team, but also with a first trial on a micro harvest in 2022. The 2023 harvest has been done under perfect weather conditions on August 26th, manually as always, before a very strict sorting prior to the press and the start of vinification in stainless steel vat. 50% of the Chardonnay are aged in French oak barrels « Neptune », from the cooper Orion, recognized as one of the best on the market for this style of white wine, bringing a creamy touch to the wine. The other 50% are kept in stainless steel vat to counterbalance the oak, to bring freshness and to keep the typical aromatic of the Chardonnay. If this first production will be very limited in quantity, with only around 2000 bottles produced on this vintage, we have already planted in 2021 another 20,5 acres ( plot n°2B), 50 acres in 2022 ( plot n°7a) and 71 acres in 2023 ( plot n°7B). Eventually, when they will all be in production, we will reach 3 hectares of Chardonnay. 

We had the pleasure to present in exclusivity the Chardonnay aged in barrels to Mr Raimonds Tomsons, Best Sommelier of the World 2023, during his visit at the property recently. His comments were very positive for us, mentioning « a beautiful structure and roundness brought by the time in barrel/barrel ageing while keeping the very typical aromatic of the Chardonnay, which will be for sure well counterbalanced by the freshness of the juice kept in stainless steel vat in the final blend».