Les Jamelles Chardonnay

About a third of Les Jamelles Chardonnay ferments in oak, then the wine spends nine months on lees with regular bâtonnage, which gives it a creamy weight without turning it into a butter bomb. Apricot and pear, hazelnut and white flowers, a subtle toffee-and-praline oak note, and a lemony lift on the long finish.

Les Jamelles began in 1991, when Catherine and Laurent Delaunay — Burgundians with New World training — set up in the Languedoc to make serious varietal wine at accessible prices. Catherine's Burgundian instincts are ever present in this cuvee.

Food Pairing: Roast chicken, mushroom risotto, gruyère.