Joseph Drouhin Laforet Chardonny de Bourgogne

Founded in 1880 and now stewarded by the fourth-generation Drouhin family, Maison Joseph Drouhin completed a full organic and biodynamic conversion across its 100-hectare Burgundy estate — earning ECOCERT certification for the 2009 vintage — a commitment almost without precedent for a négociant-domaine of this scale. The Laforêt Chardonnay draws from Drouhin's Burgundy AOC-level holdings across the Côte d'Or and Mâconnais, where clay-limestone soils and the house's horse-ploughed, cover-cropped viticulture prioritise root depth and mineral uptake over yield. Vinification follows the full Drouhin white-wine protocol: slow pneumatic pressing with free-run juice separated from press fractions, then alcoholic and malolactic fermentation conducted in French high-forest oak barrels using indigenous yeasts, with light bâtonnage during élevage and approximately 10–15% new oak — a regime that builds texture without masking site character. What distinguishes Laforêt within the regional Bourgogne tier is that it receives identical winemaking treatment to Drouhin's Premier Cru whites: no shortcuts in vessel or yeast selection simply because the appellation is entry-level. The 2021 vintage, shaped by severe spring frost and mildew pressure that drastically reduced yields, produced wines of uncommon freshness and precision — lower volume forcing strict sorting and concentrating what remained. Drink now through 2026.