Wine of the week: Louis Jadot Macon-Villages 2020

This French white, made with chardonnay, reminds us of the joys of simple wine

One of the drawbacks with writing about wine for as long as I have is the tendency to start too many reviews with, “I remember when. …” Because there is already way too much of that crankiness in the wine world (to say nothing of the larger, everyday world).

So it doesn’t matter that the Jadot Macon-Villages used to be one of those simple, everyday wines you bought without a second thought until the wine business went off in the various and foolish directions it did over the past decade. The question today: Does the wine qualify, at this moment, as a blog wine of the week?

The answer: Yes.

That’s because the Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages 2020 ($12, purchased, 13%) is a simple, technically correct chardonnay from the Macon region of Burgundy. No, there isn’t a lot going on, and it isn’t as minerally or as lemony or as crisp as some, even at this price. But it’s not vanilla pudding supermarket plonk, either.

Instead, the wine is clean and fresh, with green apple fruit, and is just the kind of thing to buy without a second thought (even if you already knew that because you reviewed it a decade ago). Grilled chicken breasts, anyone?

Prices are all over the place for this, but if you can find it for $12 or less, you won’t be disappointed.

Imported by Kobrand