France's famed Burgundy region is a challenging wine region to navigate. It's best properly explored with a lot of tasting and a map to mark the geographic coordinates of all the wines.
But to assist my exploration of the area I keep a mental list of certain cues, be it micro regions or producers, so when I'm picking a wine I can find something relatable and have a decent idea of what I'm going to get.
The cue for me here is the name Joseph Drouhin, a highly regarded estate that owns vineyards and produces wine from all the main areas of Burgundy including Chablis, Cote de Nuits, Beaune (where this wine is from) and Chalonnaise. They even own a vineyard in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
To find one of these wines for $16 at Costco was a score (it's $22 at Total Wine). I grabbed a few for later too as I think these might go fast.
Saint Veran is in the Maconnais subregion, which you seem to be hearing more about but the wines aren't quite as easy to find as those from neighboring Pouilly-Fuisse. That's another reason why it was nice to see this one pop up. Chardonnay is the varietal in both regions.
Definitely pours on the darker yellow side, fresh aromas and really nice fruit; mostly green apple and citrus flavor although as I got into the wine more I noticed some orange peel and vanilla cream; balanced acidity with lingering flavor throughout the finish; subtle on the oak, very Burgundian in style. Clean and refreshing.
I love that we can buy this for $16 as it is a high caliber wine from a region you just don't find too many other wines available even and certainly not priced that low.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 90 points (a CostcoWineBlog Recommended Wine)
Costco item number: 723265
Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA (Cumberland)
Alc. 13%
