2018 Domaine Chanson Viré-Clessé Burgundy 750 ml

One of our favorite white Burgundies from the extraordinary 2018 vintage wasn’t grown in the high-profile vineyards of Chassagne-Montrachet or Meursault, and it doesn’t carry the standard Burgundy price tag. But if you tasted it blind, you might never know. 

This is a supercharged Chardonnay that ranks among the best values of the vintage—thanks to the impressive generational expertise at Domaine Chanson. Founded in 1750, Chanson counts itself among the oldest estates in Burgundy, and with Winemaker of the Year Jean Pierre Confuron at the helm, their Viré-Clessé is a truly stunning bottling. This 2018 is a classic, showcasing mineral-driven magic balanced by a rich roundness that only comes out of Burgundy in top vintages like 2018. 

Wine Enthusiast called this Viré-Clessé release “ripe but beautifully balanced, carrying its juiciness with elegance.” At our price, this is a value giant that offers its greatest reward by the case. That is, until it’s gone. 

Much like the Premier Cru and Grand Cru holdings of Meursault and Montrachet, the southeast-facing slopes between the towns of Viré and Clessé are strewn with chunks of white limestone, oyster fossils, and chalk. In Confuron’s talented hands, this incredible terroir, first planted by the monks of Cluny in the 1500s, comes alive in the glass with exuberance, class, and an etched minerality that belies its under-$25 price tag. 

Vintage variation in Burgundy can make a good bottle into an excellent one. That’s why we read and reread harvest reports like most people read a daily newspaper. The 2018 growing season was spectacular, with a long, slow pace that allowed white grapes to be picked alongside red grapes for the first time in some vintners’ lives. 

Over nearly 300 years, Domaine Chanson slowly acquired 111 acres of vines spread from Viré-Clessé to Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin, which give the estate incredible breadth and access to the best grapes in any season. The Domaine’s historic cellar, where this 2018 was aged, is actually a medieval tower that dates back to the time when the monks were first planting Chardonnay and King Louis XI was defending his claim in Beaune. The stone walls of the tower are 26 feet thick, making them basically impenetrable, and also a nice, cool place to store pristine Chardonnay.  

Raised directly from behind those walls, our 40 cases of the 2018 Viré-Clessé are one of the great steals of this incredible vintage.