In store, the Waitrose ticket price is marked up at £11.99 then 25% discount is given with a strike through = £8.99. but the web site says £8.54 being an extra 5% off. There is no mention of the 25% discount on the web site. Odd that - the wine is NOT WORTH £11.99, why introduce the hype for store customers ?

The Viré Co-op have made a soft wine, which is very melon, a little grapefruit pith, but very little citrus and quite a chalky & pithy minerality, which was out of kilter with the soft melon. One has to chill it down to get enough cut to the palate, and that is disappointing. Acidity is too low in my view. I first tried a small amount in the glass at slightly higher than (domestic) cellar temperature, it was too soft.

The wine is worth £8, but I much preferred the basic Macon Villages from Jadot at £7. This Viré-Clessé tries too hard to be a cut above standard Maconnais chardonnay. The complications with the wine detract from the lightness, finesse and elegance of the ordinary villages wine from Jadot.

Not really recommended, but if you want more body and a stonger flavour to go with some Mediterranean mild spicy food, then this will do the job quite well.

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Duncan

This Vire Clesse' benefitted from a night and a day in the fridge.

The Soft cell Melon has all but vacated, and you get a small amount of new world chardonnay flavour in its place; However the grapefruit pith has marched in at double time; so whilst the wine is less disjointed, the pith has swung too much the other way. Chalky minerality goes better with the grapefruit pith and a tarty note than with the melon though, so it's a positive development.

If buying this, chill and drink at one sitting.....or......keep in the rack for 12 months and trust that the overall effect integrates better; The fruit and freshness should last for 12 months in the right conditions, YET, I would not keep for longer than a year though.

Not citrussy enough for most fish, could be good with various veggie starters and roasted vegetables. Might be amazing with radicchio, white chicory, peppery rocket and comice pear with soft blue cheese salad - where you want to capitalise on the grafefruit pith and fresh yet mild bitterness on the one side and melon with pear on the other.

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Duncan