Domaine Robert Denogent - Les Sardines 2024
In Fuissé, in the heart of the Mâconnais, Domaine Robert-Denogent is one of those Burgundian estates whose personality is not limited to the reputation of its appellations. The family history dates back to the early 20th century, before Jean-Jacques Robert took over the vineyards in 1989 and his sons Nicolas then Antoine continued this adventure with a freer sensitivity, nourished by Burgundy, Beaujolais, Jura, and artisan wines. Today, the estate works a mosaic of small plots between Mâconnais and Beaujolais, on varied soils where limestone, clay, silt, sandstone, or schist give each wine a particular vibration. Organic and biodynamic farming, manual work, and refusal of ready-made recipes contribute to this very recognizable identity. At Robert-Denogent, Chardonnay is never approached as a neutral or decorative grape variety: it becomes a living, generous, tense matter, carried by the ripeness of the fruit and the sincerity of the place. Les Sardines 2024 fits into this freer than academic spirit, with a Mâcon-Villages designed for the table, sharing, and immediate pleasure, without giving up precision. It is a cuvée that lives up to its name, with that convivial and mischievous touch typical of the estate, but whose serious vinification quickly reminds that you are with one of the most endearing signatures of southern Burgundy.
This cuvée is made from Chardonnay, under the Mâcon-Villages appellation, from vines over forty years old according to available information. The wine comes from well-ripened grapes but retains the tension that the estate seeks in all its whites. The clay-limestone soils of the Mâconnais give it a base both broad and fresh, with a matter that is not content to be aromatic. The oak aging, carried out in used barrels according to consulted sources, brings depth and a slight patina without trying to mask the wine. The 2024 vintage here seems to offer a gourmand and luminous reading of Chardonnay, with a mouth that has chewiness, relief, and that natural energy that makes Robert-Denogent wines so immediately recognizable. Les Sardines does not aim for the solemnity of a grand cru but the intelligence of a just, lively, tasty wine, capable of combining freshness, breadth, and spontaneity. Its success lies precisely in this balance between peasant character, serious vinification, and the pleasure of tasting without posing.
The color presents itself in a bright light yellow, with golden reflections that announce a ripe but not heavy Chardonnay. The nose evokes pear, yellow apple, white peach, and ripe citrus, then opens on notes of fresh almond, white flowers, blond bread, and warm stone. On the palate, the attack is supple, immediately tasty, carried by a broad matter that gives the wine a very pleasant presence. The freshness then tightens the whole, bringing rhythm, a saline sensation, and a finish tighter than the generosity of the fruit might suggest. The wine has this crunchy, almost tactile side that makes you want to sit down at the table rather than analyze it at length. It will pair very well with gougères, parsley ham, snails, lightly sauced fish, creamy poultry, mushroom risotto, pike quenelles, or young Comté cheese. Served around 10 to 11°C, it will retain its brightness while revealing its texture, fruit, and that mineral gourmandise that charms the cuvée.
Grape variety: Chardonnay
