Domaine Andre Bonhomme Vire Clesse 2018

Starting in 1999, with some help of that same importer who is now in his 60s, Melissa and I have had the pleasure of the Bonhomme “experience” at both Taillevent and his amazing domaine. On our last trip, following an amazing lunch with the ‘85 version of this incredible white Burgundy, we took the TGV to Macon. 15 minutes later, we passed through the gate at Domaine André Bonhomme in the tiny hamlet of Viré. Young Aurelien Palthey led us to the cellar in which he’d grown up at his grandfather’s side. After a barrel tasting of the 2018s, he led us back into time, a tasting that lasted three hours, finishing with his grandad’s 1961, a textbook white Burgundy was bright golden in color, perfectly fresh and vibrant, despite its 59 YEARS of bottle age!

These 80 year old Chardonnay vines, rooted in the limestone of southern Burgundy, produce profound white Burgundy. There are very few producers in Meursault and Puligny that can claim their wines can age as long as Bonhomme’s and their wines cost 3-4 times what Aurelien’s do. That screams BUY to me.