Chardonnay is the most planted white wine grape in the world, and the most expressive. It takes its character from the place it grows more than any other grape — flinty and lean in Chablis, rich and lifted in Meursault, powerful and tropical from California, taut and saline from the Cape. The same vine, completely different wines.
The collection is built around that range. Burgundy at its heart — Chablis Premier and Grand Cru, the great communes of the Côte de Beaune, and Pouilly-Fuissé from the Mâconnais — alongside serious New World Chardonnay from Sonoma, Napa, Languedoc and the high-altitude vineyards of South Africa's Elgin Valley.
What's listed is what we can buy in the right vintage at the right price. The names rotate. The standard does not.
Burgundy
The spiritual home. Every other Chardonnay is, in some way, measured against what comes out of these vineyards.
Chablis
The northernmost outpost of Burgundy, on Kimmeridgian limestone laid down 150 million years ago. Cool climate, no new oak in the traditional style, and the saline, flinty character that only Chablis produces. We carry Premier Cru and Grand Cru — the levels at which Chablis steps from refreshment into something more serious. Outstanding with oysters, Coquilles Saint-Jacques, and any cold-water shellfish.
Côte de Beaune
The white-wine half of the Côte d'Or. Three communes do most of the heavy lifting: Meursault, the broadest and most generous of the three, full of hazelnut and butter and quiet power; Puligny-Montrachet, the most precise and mineral, often considered the apex of dry Chardonnay anywhere; Chassagne-Montrachet, sitting between them, weightier than Puligny but tighter than Meursault. Premier Cru wines from any of the three are some of the finest white wines in existence.
Pouilly-Fuissé
The Mâconnais, south of the Côte d'Or. Granite rather than limestone, warmer climate, riper fruit. Pouilly-Fuissé got its own Premier Cru classification in 2020 — a long-overdue recognition that the best sites here produce wines of genuine seriousness at prices well below the Côte de Beaune.
South of France
Languedoc
The other Chardonnay story in France — newer, freer, less burdened by tradition. The best Languedoc Chardonnay is made by producers applying serious winemaking to warmer-climate fruit. Cigalus Blanc from Gérard Bertrand is a strong example: organic, considered, and miles from cliché.
California
The state that proved Chardonnay could rival Burgundy outside Burgundy. The 1976 Paris Tasting put Napa Chardonnay above the white Burgundies on the day. Today the best California Chardonnay has moved past the heavy-oak phase of the 1990s and back toward balance — Sonoma, the Russian River, the Sonoma Coast and Napa producing wines of finesse rather than weight.
South Africa
The Elgin Valley sits at altitude in the Western Cape, cool by South African standards, with a maritime climate and decomposed shale soils. The Chardonnay coming out of Elgin over the past decade has rewritten what South African white wine can be — closer in style to Burgundy than to anywhere else in the New World, at a fraction of the price.
Wine & Food
Chablis with oysters or Coquilles Saint-Jacques. Meursault with roast French chicken. Puligny-Montrachet with lobster. Pouilly-Fuissé with grilled white fish. Napa or Sonoma Chardonnay with richer poultry and creamy sauces. Elgin Chardonnay alongside Cape-style grilled fish or seafood with citrus. Chardonnay is the most flexible white wine on the table — the question is which Chardonnay, not whether.
Delivery
Next-working-day UK courier — or choose your preferred delivery date at checkout. Orders before 2pm dispatch same day. Wine can be ordered alongside food in the same delivery. Free weekday delivery over £225.
