Cotes du Jura, Chardonnay “Vieux Millesimes” [1982]

The Pecheurs recently discovered, at Christian's grandparents' house, a 500-liter barrel of uncertain provenance. Some detective work uncovered that this rickety cask contained Chardonnay from the 1982 vintage, left alone, basically forgotten, for four decades! Christian and Patricia bottled up this 40-year-old potion in summer of 2022, and we were fortunate to receive a splash for the US market. It's the kind of small yet magical moment we live for as importers: a reminder that wine is a messenger of cultural and family history—the outcome of human endeavor (and error!) and not simply a product to feed a market.