The Roamer's Dozen - Case One Domaine Gaëlle et Jérôme Meunier Bourgogne Chardonnay

Dec 18, 2025
2 min read

Domaine Gaëlle et Jérôme Meunier Bourgogne Chardonnay 2023 12% ck

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is so adaptable that it can be grown all over the world resulting in such a wide variety of style and flavours that it’s almost impossible to describe it. Chardonnay is a vinous variety and has a natural affinity with oak. Styles range from refined, mineral, high acid and long lived in its homeland of Burgundy to big, rich and alcoholic in parts of the USA and Australia to big and blousy in the cheap, commercial versions. In the Côte d'Or of Burgundy the wines have tight minerality, a light to medium body and fresh acidity with varying level of fruit concentration depending on where exactly they are grown. In the more southerly regions of Burgundy like Côte Chalonnaise and Côte Maconnaise the wines have a fuller body and tend to be less acidic and mineral and more approachable young.

Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise

The Burgundy wine regions extends from Chablis in the North though the Côte-D’Or (made up of the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune), Côte Chalonnaise, Côte Maconnaise and on to Beaujolais in the South. With the exception of Beaujolais there are two key grape varieties here, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It is here where you will find the greatest expression of these two very high-quality varieties. The Côte Chalonnaise is just below the Côte de Beaune and makes wines with a more approachable price point and a less serious style with more fruit than minerality. The well-known AOPs from this region are Rully and Mercurey and this wine, although just a Bourgogne Blanc is grown just outside the Mercurey AOP.

A wine from Mercurey

The Bourgogne Chardonnay appellation can come from Chardonnay grown anywhere in Burgundy, from Chablis in the North to Beaujolais in the south so you get a huge range of styles from taut and mineral to big and rich. This wine comes from vines around Mercurey in the Côte Chalonnaise. They have a bit more richness than wines from the Côte d’Or but less than the Côte Maconnaise. It’s a good compromise between a serious style and a budget friendly bottle.

White Foods

This one is easy to think of it in colour, if it's a white food (chicken, white fish, cream, young cheese) then it will go well with this. Try chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce, or scallops in lemon butter. The wine has a bright acidity that cuts through creamy dishes.