With vineyards on many of Chassagne-Montrachet’s greatest, most famous hillsides, Jean-Marc and Claudine Blain’s domaine is one of Burgundy’s finest white wine estates. In addition, their reds are consistently stand-outs for delicious, fairly-priced red Burgundy.

Minimal intervention is key to the Blain-Gagnard wine-making style. New oak barrels are used imperceptibly – being subtly spread amongst the different cuvées so that oakiness is never noticed. White wines are consistently bottled after no more than 11- or 12-months’ barrel-ageing, ensuring that maximum freshness is retained. The finished wines have purity, with impressive fruit richness and harmonious length, while accurately evoking their origins.

The range of wines has narrowed here, as their son Marc-Antonin Blain has taken over cultivation and wine-making for several plots (see page 19).