Region: Burgundy 

Variety: Chardonnay 

What's in the glass: 72 bottles shipped. This is only the third vintage from Domaine des Croix’s Combe Bazin, a steep, stony site on white soils. Croix’s parcel covers a single hectare. The vines deliver microscopic yields, and Croix is replanting most of the vineyard with mass-selection cuttings. The two barrels from 2023 come from the finest 15% of the vines.

The grapes were lightly crushed, followed by a gentle, three-hour press. The wine fermented spontaneously and aged for a year on lees in used 500-litre barrels before another six months in concrete. Croix notes that the archetypal Combe Bazin is a Saint-Romain that “fills out the palate”, and that is precisely what you get here: generosity balanced with juicy freshness, mineral chalkiness and coolness from the terroir’s altitude and shallow limestone soils.

“There’s width of aroma here but then there’s linearity too – that’s very attractive. Wide in the mouth, growing with intensity then clean, chalky, finishing – that’s a delicious finish, nice and clean. Lovely !!” Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report

Farming: Organic 

Vegan Friendly: Yes