Despite the best efforts of the “Anything But Chardonnay” movement, whose triumphs — dating back to the 1980s and 1990s — are now distant memories, there’s no shortage of demand for the great white grape of Burgundy.

The brief dip, about a quarter of a century ago, had more to do with incompetent winemaking than any intrinsic shortcomings of the variety. Poor fruit handling combined with overenthusiastic oaking did yield some vinous monsters: clumsy, chunky and dull — and about as charmless as Vladimir Putin, bare-chested astride an unhappy mare...

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