2010 Domaine Hubert Lamy Chassagne Montrachet La Goujonne Vieilles Vignes (Rouge)

Domaine Hubert Lamy was established in 1973 by Hubert Lamy, whose family has been growing grapes and making wine in Burgundy since the 17th century. In 1995 his son Olivier joined the business after earning a degree in viticulture and business. Together they added vineyards to the estate, and today domaine Hubert Lamy owns 46 vineyard acres divided among the appellations of Saint-Aubin, Puligny-Montrachet and Santenay. The estate makes primarily white wine, with 80% of its vineyards planted to Chardonnay and 20% to Pinot Noir. Lamy’s Grand Cru and Premier Cru white wines often earn scores in the high-90s. In 2012 Wine Advocate wrote that “Lamy is one of the great, not yet widely discovered domaines in all of Burgundy. Readers should do whatever they can to check out these fabulous wines.”

Chassagne-Montrachet is the appellation that covers the communes of Chassagne-Montrachet and Remigny, and it is the southern-most of the Côte d’Or’s three great white wine appellations of Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. With 1,200 acres of vineyards, it is one of the largest appellations in the region, and more than half the vineyard acreage is Grand Cru or Premier Cru. The three famous Grand Crus are Le Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet and Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. There are also 16 main Premiers Crus, most of them considered very high quality, and village wines. One fact rarely noted is that historically the appellation produced more red than white wine. In the late 1990s the ratio of white to red wines changed, however, as more vineyards were converted from Pinot Noir to Chardonnay, a logical decision given the acclaim of the appellation’s whites. There are still intriguing red wines produced. Clive Coates wrote that the appellation’s white wines generally are “full and firm, more akin to Puligny than to the softer, rounder wines of Meursault.”

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.