Andre Bonhomme

The first time we met Andre Bonhomme, it was 25 years ago. We had driven from Paris to Macon after drinking a bottle of Bonhomme 1978 at Taillevent. Jean-Claude Vrinat had told us where to go, and the sommelier had arranged the visit, adding quite simply, “C’est le Meursault de Macon” (”It’s the Meursault of Macon).

Andre Bonhomme, even in 1983, was a throwback– that kind of madly determined French winegrower who was possessed by Chardonnay. That first tasting of Bonhomme’s perfectly crafted Chardonnays, lightly kissed with oak, started with the luxuriously rich 1978 — the wine the sommelier had paired with scallops at the world’s greatest restaurant. But it didn’t end there. Andre sensed our excitement with his wines, and by the time we got to the perfectly preserved, incredibly youthful 1969, it was clear that the sommelier had undersold Andre Bonhomme. This wasn’t just Meursault; this was the quality of the very best of Meursault.

Unfortunately, and sadly, Andre Bonhomme, the first Maconnais grower ever to bottle wine under his own label in the 1950s, suffered a stroke a couple years ago. The last vintage he really touched was the superbly rich 2006 harvest, and this Macon-Villages, which has never moved from those frigid cellars, is Bonhomme at his best. Rich, slightly honeyed, but wonderfully vibrant and refreshing, the 2006 Macon-Villages is the work of the man who made it to Taillevent.

Bonhomme’s Chardonnay shared the spotlight with Petrus, Romanee Conti and Chateau Rayas; the only Chardonnay from the Macon. This is why.

In the mid-1950s, every producer in the Macon appellation sold his grapes or wine to big bottlers or the cooperative. There were no profits, just enough money to keep the family fed. Andre Bonhomme was in his 20s and, already, he was having none of it. Having made a few hundred bottles a year on his own, the young Bonhomme was convinced that he could make Chardonnay as good as the wines of the Cote de Beaune. But there was a problem. Making wine meant buying bottles, corks, creating a label. Then there was selling it. Andre didn’t care, and when he told his father that he was finished selling his wine to the cooperative, there were familial fireworks. No matter. Bonhomme Sr. had miscalculated the resolve of his son.

Like Domaine Corsin and Chateau Fuisse in Pouilly Fuisse, and the Lafons in Meursault, there were huge advantages in Bonhomme being first to put wine into bottle. Early on, before his neighbors had a chance to experiment with the hillside parcels above Vire, young Andre knew which spots produced the best Chardonnays. By selling his wine in bottle, he made enough money to invest in a patchwork quilt of 16 acres of perfectly positioned Chardonnay vines. Then, he performed and perfected his winemaking magic.

Tasting Notes from the WineAccess Travel Log

“Pale golden color. Beautiful aromas of ripe apple and pear, a touch of honey, wet stones. Rich and vibrant on the attack with a tight kernel of apple, faint honey fruit. Knowing these Bonhomme wines as we do, this will age into Bonhomme’s benchmark flavors — honey and beeswax. As always, fine and firm on the finish arguing for a lengthy stay in bottle. Drink now-2020.”