Maison Albert Bichot, Mâcon-Villages (Burgundy, France) 2020

 Combine Maison Albert Bichot, one of Burgundy’s top negociants, the 2020 vintage, and a white wine from an affordable part of Burgundy, and you have a winner.  The Mâconnais, an a mostly white wine area of Burgundy south of the famed — and expensive — Côte d’Or was generally successful in 2020.  Chardonnay here, like in the rest of Burgundy, is far and away the major white wine grape and in 2020 it ripened very nicely while maintaining good acidity.  Bichot’s Macon-Villages reflects the general character of the vintage (and by the way, the -Villages modifier means that the grapes could have been grown in any of about 40 or so more prized villages).  The wine conveys a lively combination of fruitiness, hints of minerality, and balancing vibrancy, all at a very attractive price.