Domaine Cordier, Viré-Clessé Vieilles Vignes 2019

Christophe Cordier is a piercingly blue-eyed human dynamo who exudes enthusiasm and industry. He wishes to make balanced wines, which he achieves by harvesting ripe yet fresh grapes which are naturally concentrated due to low yields, evident in his recognisable house style - concentrated, full and rich but upheld by wonderful acidity, beautifully balanced and punching above the weight of the appellation (Saint-Véran en Faux being a notable example).

Combining the domaine and its negociant arm, Christophe Cordier presides over 30-odd hectares over a number of village appellations in the greater Mâconnais, including Pouilly-Fuissé. An impressively high-tech winery includes a gravity bottling facility and a raft of high-quality large French oak casks which are coopered off-site but toasted under Christophe’s supervision. A new cellar built in the village of Fuissé completed for the 2012 harvest has been fitted out with more large foudres for fermenting and storing wine, as well as more space for 500, 350 and 228 litre barrels which will allow Christophe to extend the ageing of wines like Mâcon Milly, a wine from a cool spot that benefits from extra time in wood on its lees to develop and open out the flavours and aromas.