It's been awhile since we've put the La Colline aux Fossiles' Chardonnay on deal. That's about to change! Our pick for the best all-around Chardonnay value in the world, it's back on deal at a very attractive price.
Quite a sophisticated wine for its humble price point, this is like a hypothetical Sonoma Coast Chard meets a Chablis. Concentrated and rich yet fresh and buoyant, this is the kind of white wine that pleases lots of palates.
2021 La Colline Aux Fossiles Chardonnay
It's like a Chablis and a top-flight Sonoma Coast Chard had a baby!
This is the "stuff" that wine lovers and wine buyers (like myself) are constantly on the hunt for. There's a ton to like about this Chardonnay that offers up so much style, quality, and nuance at such a reasonable price. Whether you like mineralic Chablis, golden-fruited Macon, or balanced California Chardonnays, you'll love this one.
A joint venture between winemaker Jean-Marc Lafage and importer Eric Solomon, La Colline aux Fossiles is a formidable bottle of wine with a great story. A few years back, the duo stumbled upon an older and perfectly situated site along the Tet River, in the Roussillon.
The gravelly, red clay soils found here are rich with fossils and limestone, thus the name of the wine. Combine that with the warm days and cool nights, and you have yourself some PRIME Chardonnay terroir, much like you'd find in the higher-rent districts of Burgundy. La Colline aux Fossiles was born!
Now in its fourth vintage, the wine is as good as ever. Produced from 30+ year-old vines, it's brought up in a mixture of stainless steel and French oak. Deep straw, nearly golden colored and offering up a lovely bouquet of white peach, golden apple, caramelized citrus, honeysuckle, and mellow mineral, it's just as fantastic on the palate.
With good depth of flavor, zesty acids, and a long and satisfying finish, I don't know what more you could ask for out of a Chardonnay at this price point. We stock Chardonnays from all over that cost 2-3x the price and don't offer nearly as many virtues as this one.
