Côte de Beaune

White Côte de Beaune is a dry, elegant Chardonnay from Burgundy, France, ranging from fresh and mineral to rich, creamy and complex. Expect apple, pear and citrus with white flowers, nuts and gentle spice. It’s brilliant with lobster, scallops, grilled fish, roast chicken, creamy pasta, mushroom dishes and soft cheese.

Taste:

Chardonnay with a very impressive address book.

White wines from the Côte de Beaune are typically dry and medium to full-bodied, with fresh acidity and flavours of lemon, apple, pear and white peach. Depending on the village, vineyard and producer, you might also find white flowers, minerals, hazelnut and gentle spice.

Oak fermentation and ageing can add vanilla, toast, butter and a creamier texture, while mature bottles may develop honeyed and nutty flavours.

The style varies considerably across the region. Some wines are lean, precise and mineral; others are broad, rich and luxurious.

Basically, asking what Côte de Beaune Chardonnay tastes like is a bit like asking what French food tastes like. We're going to need to narrow this down.

Food Pairings:

White Côte de Beaune is particularly good with seafood, roast poultry and creamy dishes.

Try it with lobster, scallops, crab, prawns or langoustines, particularly with butter, garlic, lemon or creamy sauces.

For fish, pair it with sea bass, cod, halibut, turbot or salmon. Fish pie and seafood pasta work particularly well with richer styles.

Roast chicken, chicken in a creamy sauce and roast turkey are excellent matches too.

For pasta, try mushroom pasta, truffle pasta, carbonara, seafood pasta or creamy chicken pasta. Mushroom risotto and truffle risotto are equally good choices.

On the cheese board, Brie, Camembert, Comté and Gruyère all work beautifully.

Similar Wines:

The best place to go next is deeper into the Côte de Beaune itself.

Puligny-Montrachet is famous for elegant, mineral Chardonnay, while Chassagne-Montrachet often brings a little more richness and breadth.

Meursault is an essential stop if richer, nuttier Chardonnay is your thing, while Saint-Aubin offers another beautifully fresh expression from the region.

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More About Côte de Beaune:

The Côte de Beaune forms the southern half of Burgundy's famous Côte d'Or, stretching south from around Ladoix-Serrigny through Beaune and down towards Santenay.

It produces both red and white wine, but many of the world's most celebrated Chardonnays come from its vineyards.

Names including Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet all sit within the Côte de Beaune, alongside some of Burgundy's legendary Grand Cru vineyards.

The area's limestone-rich soils, slopes and tiny variations between vineyard sites are taken extremely seriously, with wines classified from regional and village level through Premier Cru and Grand Cru.

A few metres up the hill can apparently change everything.

Including the price.