Comte de Bernadotte

We just got in a couple cases of Comte de Bernadotte Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, probably the best buys in the store for those two types.  Wanting to learn more about them, we reached out first to our supplier which was no help; then to the importer, again, very little help and finally to the source, one Jean-Marc D'Anjoux.  

Why didn't we start there in the first place?  Because these wines are negotiant wines and there is a lot of secrecy in where they are sourced.  Another name for these kinds of wines in the trade is zipcode wines.  Zipcode wines always have a series of numbers on the back label that, if you have the industry map in front of you, you can pinpoint the location where the wine is sourced.  Bernadotte has two sets of numbers, one where the juice is sourced and one where it is bottled. 

Jean-Marc's name isn't on the label anywhere.  Les Vins Aujus is on the label but it too was a dead end in our research.

Before we go any further down this rabbit hole, if you like pinot and/or chard, you should try these wines.  They are priced humanely and the wine is made in the less-austere style we Americans like.

It turns out home base for Jean-Marc and Les Vins Aujus is in southern Burgundy, France where their main business is making Beaujolais and Macon Chardonnay.  The finest chards and pinots in the world come from a little further north in the Cotes d'Or.  We have learned that Comte de Bernadotte is made right there in the Aujus winery.  The grapes are sourced from elsewhere.  One of the hats Jean-Marc wears is that of negotiant so his job is that of a middleman in the production of wines and getting them to market.  We have also learned he owns property in Herault in the Languedoc region where half the wines of France originate.  So Bernadotte may be sourced there in Herault, but without the zipcode map, it could be from elsewhere in the Languedoc.

The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are both 100% varietal wines.  The Chardonnay shows citrus and floral flavors along with a little vanilla.  The Pinot goes through a cold maceration and fermentation to create a round fruity structure with some strawberry-ish flavors.  Since the winery is located in the Beaujolais region I'm betting we have the same carbonic maceration fermentation here as we've been writing about recently.