Burgundy is renowned for being a jigsaw of small plots, fitting side by side across the rolling côtes and crus, each with many different owners - the result of Napoleonic inheritance laws that divide estates equally between heirs. While some heirs want to make wine, others prefer to live their lives elsewhere, meaning that their plots go untended.

Enter Patrice du Jeu, a Parisian restaurateur with the dynamism and energy to revive such plots and also a descendant of the Saint-Genys family. Together with other members of his family and some of his friends, he managed to buy several of these neglected parcels of vines in excellent terroirs of the Côte de Beaune, including Santenay, Chassagne-Montrachet and the monopole of Clos Marcilly in Mercurey. Teaming up with white Burgundy expert Jean-Baptise Alinc, the wines of these heirs - Les Héritiers - are both technically highly competent and beautifully crafted.

This white is a blend of two climats from the terroir of Santenay: Sous la roche (under the rock) said to be one of the best slopes to grow Chardonnay, due in part to its chalky clay marl soils and southerly aspect and Comme Dessus i.e. just to the other side of the 1er Cru of La Comme. Vines are 30-40 years of age and grown sustainably, limiting the use of phytosanitary chemicals and preferring tillage to herbicides. Harvest is by hand with grapes sorted in the vineyard and placed directly in small drilled boxes, avoiding maceration before winemaking and limiting handling.

Once gently pressed in the cellars in the heart of Chassagne-Montrachet, the wines are matured for 10 months in French oak, 20% of which is new.

An indulgent apéritif that can continue as you dine, perfect with a really good fish pie or free-range roast chicken.