Chateau Thivin 2025 Beaujolais Blanc "Clos de Rochebonne"

When Beaujolais was ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, a little Chardonnay made its way to the vineyards to the south of the Maconnais.  Since most of Beaujolais is made up of Gamay vines, locals need something white for their fish and chicken, so 2 to 4 percent of their vineyards are now planted to the grape of white Burgundy.  In Thivin’s case, Chardonnay vines were planted in 2009 in clay and limestone soils, producing wine aged on fine lees in one-to-ten year old barrels for eight months.

“Thivin’s Beaujolais blanc comes from a parcel about thirty minutes south of their property in Odenas, where the soil has an abundance of pierre dorée, a golden limestone that reflects a toasty hue off the local homes that are built from it.  Radiant at magic hour, the village and surrounding cliffs glow, just like the wine that Thivin draws from this stony outpost. Rochebonne offers Chardonnay fruit that’s both racy and sun-kissed.  Different from the whites of neighboring Mâcon, this blanc is firm but also a touch fleshy.”—Jane Augustine, Kermit Lynch Imports

"The 2024 Beaujolais Clos de Rochebonne is a Chardonnay grown on Jurassic clay-limestone, with a fine pale yellow color, bright and clear, and the nose is already a delight for the senses, evoking with finesse notes of acacia, fresh pear, and peach, with a ripeness that is precise and never excessive. The palate is ample, full, and comfortable, with beautiful volume, a real personality, and an already very finely drawn expression of the variety, of the highest order. It has a fine mineral savor on the finish, iodine and saline, which underpins the pleasure and the real dimension of this wine. Drink over the next 10 years. Drink 2026-2036."--Jeb Dunnuck