"In the northwestern corner of Burgundy, east of Chablis bordering on the Champagne-Ardenne region, is the Tonnerrois. The area is centred around the town of Tonnerre and its 5400 inhabitants.
The Canal de Bourgogne cuts rights through the area, from the northwest to the southeast. This is the canal that connects the Saône to the Seine, and therefore also connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea via the Yonne and Seine to the Saône and the Rhône. Construction began in 1775 and was completed in 1832. In the past the canal was important to the local industry. Today tourism has taken the place of the industry.
The Tonnerre vignoble is both young and old. The vines were present already during Roman times. From the 10th century and onwards the monks began to develop the vignoble. At the end of the 19th century the Tonnerrois vines covered more than 5000 hectares. Then phylloxera almost entirely wiped out the vineyards in the area. Today, after extensive replanting during the last decades, it covers 240 hectares and in 2006 it received an appellation of its own - Bourgogne Tonnerre.
Restoration of the vignoble first began in Epineuil in 1970, led by mayor André Durand. In the mid-1800's this village four kilometres north of Tonnerre could count 350 hectares of vines.
In his book on the Yonne from 1882 Malte-Brun lists the most renowned climats in Epineuil and adds that the white wines from Côte de Grisey can compete with the most respected wines of the Côte d'Or." Bergman's Bourgogne.
It took me a while but on Friday evening I opened a bottle of the Dampt Bourgogne Tonnerre Clos du Chateau Blanc 2016 to taste. What a wine it is for the price!
This is the domaine's prestige Bourgogne. It is produced from a number of parcels on a variety of soils - Kimmeridgian clay/limestone, Oxfordian on the hillsides and Portlandian on the plateau. It sees 30% oak and 70% stainless steel and is bottled in a large, heavy bottle similar to Grand Cru bottles from the Cote d'Or.
If you are looking for a serious White Burgundy that is full of character and class but is not too expensive you should jump on this!
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