If you think you love Chardonnay, you need to experience the wines of the Côte de Beaune. More importantly, if you think you hate Chardonnay, you need to try a good Côte de Beaune. The greatest expression of the grape lie in the vineyards along the limestone escarpment that make up the backbone of this region. The Côte de Beaune is home to both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but there is little doubt as to who’s in charge in the Beaune. This single region, and the amazing wines it produces, is the sole reason that Chardonnay has been able to take over the wine producing world in our time.

It’s a little surprising to hear that this most sacred of wine regions did not host its signature grape, Chardonnay, until the 17^th century. Before whatever happy accident brought Chardonnay to the Côte, the grape of choice was Pinot Gris. Certainly not a bad grape, it just has never been able to pull off the high-wire acid/body structure that is a great Chardonnay. The Côte de Beaune lies on the southern half of the Côte d’Or, and is home to many fine AOCs producing wine from Chardonnay. Two of the many noteworthy of these appellations producing white wines are Mersault and Montrachet.

If you want to sound very Frenchy and cool to your wine geek friends, make sure to pronounce it “moan-ra-shay.” Montrachet is both a village and Grand Cru. To add to that confusion, some of the Grand Cru in the Village of Montrachet attach the name to the end of their Grand Cru names; so we end up with Puligny-Montrachet and Batard-Montrachet. There is however, no confusion about the best Grand Cru in the area—it is Le Montrachet. The Chardonnay produced from this escarpment in the French countryside is the archetype of white Burgundy—and thus Chardonnay produced anywhere. The wines of Le Montrachet are intense and succulent with excellent acidity and structure and a long finish. Even if you can’t find the Montrachet, anything with the name Montrachet attached will be a great bottle of wine.

Though there are no Grand Cru vineyards’ in Mersault, the region is still considered one of the greatest in the whole Côte de Beaune. The wines here are Chardonnay and they tend towards a buttery, soft and rich style. The appellation produces some decent values—if you can find Mersault-Villages bottles, look for Les Charmes or Les Perrieres.

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The Loire River winds its way through north-central France. From its start near the center of the country all the delta at the Atlantic, vines are grown on its banks. The climate in the area is right on the edge of being to cold for vines to grow, and the river provides just a little extra warmth, which makes winemaking in this area possible. Grapes have been grown here since the Romans invaded, and, at one point in time, wines from the Loire were considered the best in the world.

The modern Loire still makes excellent wines, from dozens of AOCs along the length of the river. Because the area is so big, it’s often though of in three regions: the lower, middle and upper Loire. Within the upper Loire are two very famous wine producing areas: Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Both regions lie at the far east end of the Loire, across the river from each other, with Sancerre on the west and Pouilly-Fumé on the east side.

Sancerre was one of the original areas of France to be awarded AOC status, which should be no surprise given its worldwide fame. The grapes of this region are the dominant Sauvignon Blanc and the lesser-used Pinot Noir. Though Pinot Noir is produced in this area, it’s almost always simple and light, Sancerre Rouge. The real star of the show here is the white Sauvignon Blanc. The grape takes well to the areas chalky soil and hillsides, which allow more light to penetrate the vineyards and allow cooler air to sink off the hillside vineyards into the valleys below. The wines produced in this classic French area were once seen only as easy-drinking bistro wines. However, a concerted effort to move toward quality wine production began in the 1970’s and the region re-positioned itself as a leader in high-quality white wine production. Today the wines are generally very dry, with intense aromas of nectarines and white berries.

Across the banks of the river from Sancerre lies Pouilly-Fumé. (If that name seems familiar it’s because Sauvignon Blanc from California has been re-billed as Fume Blanc) This AOC also grows Sauvignon Blanc and produces incredibly crisp, racy wines. The soil in the vineyards is noted for containing silex, a flint, which is said to give the wines a decidedly mineral-like aroma and flavor. The flint is also supposed to give the wine a certain “smoky” or “gunflint” aroma, which is thought to have christened the name of the region, as Fumé means “smoke” in French.

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