2021 Albert Bichot Vire-Clesse 750 ml

Albert Bichot’s Viré-Clessé is one of our essential white Burgundies—a bottle that provides quality and value like very few others in the world. Each offer leaves a froth of four- and five-star member-reviews in its wake, containing praise like “bargain of the century” and “one of the buys of the year for me.” 

That makes the 2021—from a classic vintage with bottlings Wine Advocate acclaimed as “classically proportioned, pure and fine-boned”—that much more exciting. The growing season that year started off with widespread frost, slashing yields and distressing growers across Burgundy. But the summer was cool, allowing for a late harvest and citrusy, bright, minerally wines. 

Stylistically, Viré-Classé stands apart, not just from the Mâconnais region but from the whole of Burgundy. Nowhere else produces quite the same mix of fine definition and brisk acidity while maintaining a signature rounded texture and sunshine-infused fruit. Inching towards Premier Cru quality, this is one of our favorite expressions of that distinctive southern identity.

The village of Viré was first planted by the monks of Cluny in the 1500s, and its slopes are perfect for grapegrowing. Well-draining and strewn with chunks of white limestone, they looked much like the Premier Cru and Grand Cru holdings of Meursault and Montrachet. 

Few capture this incomparable terroir better than Albert Bichot—little wonder when you consider the pedigree of the family. With ancestors residing in Burgundy since the 14th century and producing wine since 1831, quality and longevity are synonymous with the Bichot name. The current generation, led by Albéric Bichot, refuses to rest on their laurels. He implemented organic viticulture in the family’s Cote d’Or vineyards and continues to push the envelope on quality.