2022 Mâcon 'Tradition', Domaine Talmard

What makes ‘Tradition’ so special? For starters, in the interest of heightening quality, Talmard here have sourced chardonnay from a single vineyard – the first time they’ve ever done such a thing. What’s more, only best-quality fruit harvested from that vineyard has been meticulously sorted and selected for vinification.

Moreover, it’s specially-selected chardonnay from among the estate’s oldest vines, each averaging 40+ years of age. And because older vines already yield less fruit that is at the same time more concentrated, it accounts for the mere 6,500 bottles of what is more deeply flavoured. (A minuscule number when considering that we annually sell a similar volume of the Mâcon-Uchizy label on its own, let alone how much is already sold in France.)

The result is simply the purest, most wonderful expression of the varietal I’ve enjoyed for a long time: lemon, apple, pear, quince... then, stone fruit – apricot, white peach, nectarine. Finally, mango and even hints of lychee. There’s more fruit in this bottle than at New Covent Garden market. Drinking beautifully now, such quality promises great ageing potential as well.