From two plots in Noyers Brets and Rue aux Vaches, this is pale lemon-and-lime in colour with a fresh, floral nose. Middleweight, balanced, the wine is very even across the palate, with good weight at the back and some lime notes. Persistent, it retains its freshness. Drink 2018-2022.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

This year Pierre Vincent has been able to achieve his aim of an ideal barrel rotation. Each of these wines has been matured in one-third new wood, one-third one-year-old and one-third two-year-old. Because of the exceptional health of the grapes in 2015, he has also been able to vinify all the wines without de-stemming. His 2015 reds are wines of grace and elegance, while the white wines (picked from 28th August) have an impressive tension alongside a concentration of fruit.

Lovely bright, pale colour with a faint green inflection. Very classy on the nose, with a little oak and lemon grass, clearly lots more to be teased out. It has a beautiful balance between the fruit and the acidity. Very long and persistent. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Frédéric Barnier is pleased with the wines in his cellar despite having to cope with a very difficult year, with high disease pressure through the summer, then a cold and damp September. He began picking on 23rd September, for the whites, but felt that it was essential to wait for the reds. Even so everything was picked by 5th October. Frédéric notes that it took time for colour and tannin to emerge.

This is Jadots special patch of Chevalier and it has come out with all guns blazing in 2009. With sparkling minerality, chiselled purity, grace and length, this will develop into a truly great wine.

Only six barrels this year, not much from half a hectare. The grapes were exceptionally small as well as the loss of volume from hail. It is heady and concentrated on the nose, though it’s in the mouth that one sees the real quality, while an exceptionally fine thread of acidity carries through to the lacy finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

Jacques Lardière is now in charge of a new project in Oregon, after 40 years at Louis Jadot, and Frédéric Barnier is fully installed in Beaune in his place. In principal, however, there are not expected to be any changes to the winemaking. Frédéric describes 2012 as a superb vintage for reds with very healthy grapes, despite the difficult growing season. He notes the exceptionally concentrated fruit coupled with good acidity. He just had to take care to avoid over firm tannins. The whites were more difficult but their practice of retaining a proportion of the malic acid has been useful this year. All the whites are now bottled with DIAM corks.

 

Very poised and close-knit at the beginning it opens in the glass with an explosion of flavours; white flowers, white apples and an crysteline wet stone minerality. Wow! The finish has a never-ending persistence (I stopped counting at 86 seconds). Truly impressive.

In the glass this is pale and clear with a light green tint. It has a lovely nervous tension, with fresh bright fruit and a great sense of precision. There are lemons, some plums and also white flowers – lots of detail here – before the long, fine, distinguished finish.

The progress we noted with the 2013 vintage here has been further developed with an excellent range of 2014 wines. Extra details apparent this year are the enhanced use of lees after racking and the minimal use of sulphur without risking oxidation. The Château de Puligny rises a further few notches up the ladder. Étienne de Montille notes that, in 2014, “there was super clean fruit and we could pick at leisure”.

lively, stimulating, mineral bouquet: very stylish, with superb backbone through the middle, long and fine, accompanying a mix of different fruits, which are more white than yellow.

Jean-Baptiste liked the fruit and the flesh of his 2014s from the start, but since October he feels that the structure and sense of class have become apparent. He was happily surprised to find such regular, healthy fruit despite the hail, and, apart from the size of the crop, there was no discernible difference between the hailed vineyards and the others. Overall his crop was 40 percent below a normal year, and 10 percent below 2013, so his pricing this year is eminently fair.

There is just one 600-litre barrel of this wine. Pale primrose in colour, there is an undoubted toastiness to the nose which integrates well with the fruit. There are some Muscat-y aromatics to add to the complexity and the fruit-acid balance on the palate is perfectly in kilter. Drink 2018-2023.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine buyer

The harvest began on 28th August, with acceptable but still slightly low volumes, very similar to the immediately previous vintages. Already certified as organic, the château’s wines will also be certified (Biodivin) as biodynamic from 2017. This has become a seriously good address for white Burgundy in recent vintages. The 2015s have an excellent weight of fruit married to good acidity.

A clear, pale colour, this has the lightest of green tints. A very elegant approach, this has beguiling floral notes, pure clean fruit too and some white peach, without being overly opulent. It has a lovely texture and great persistence. The fruit keeps on coming: an exquisitely balanced 2015 Puligny. Drink 2019-2024.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

The harvest began on 28th August, with acceptable but still slightly low volumes, very similar to the immediately previous vintages. Already certified as organic, the château’s wines will also be certified (Biodivin) as biodynamic from 2017. This has become a seriously good address for white Burgundy in recent vintages. The 2015s have an excellent weight of fruit married to good acidity.

The Château de Puligny team have made an intense, tightly wound Premier Cru from La Garenne, an upper hillside vineyard which always maintains its minerality. This wine has a beautifully fine persistent finish.

La Garenne is a vineyard that normally produces the ultimate elegant style of Puligny and indeed this character does come through on the finish, but before that there is a wonderful generous nose and a palate of real substance. The texture is what really gives this away as being a cut above the norm and the saline tinged minerality that shows on the finish is simply the icing on the cake.
Matthew Tipping - Private Account Manager

There is a rich nose to this, with full, fresh and lively yellow fruit and a greengage note. Very complete across the palate, with consistent weight and lots of crunch behind.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

There have been some changes in vinification this year, making the wines a little more Jean-Marc Roulot in style: the grapes are now crushed before pressing, there is less settling of the juice, very little new wood is used and the wines are racked into tank after a year but still kept on their lees. The grapes were picked during the last week in September. Overall, this is an excellent result for the team at Château de Puligny.

Showing a full pale yellow colour, this has a rich and exotic nose that includes some nuttiness and coconut notes. The fruit is superbly expressive on the palate, multi-layered and backed by the vital fresh acidity of the vintage.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

The old order changeth slowly at Maison Louis Jadot. Veteran winemaker Jacques Lardire is still very much in charge, but his eventual successor Frdric is starting to play a more prominent role. Dont expect a revolution, but a little evolution is doubtless possible. The acidity of 2010 very much suits the Jadot white wine style, while their fullish extraction of Pinot Noir has worked notably well in several red cuves such as the Volnay, Clos de la Barre which we have selected for the first time this year. Where the wines come from one of the various Jadot domaines we supply the relevant information in brackets.

You cannot escape the undoubted class of this wine. Although reserved, it displays some very intense, lively notes and exceptional length.
Jasper Morris MW - Burgundy Buyer

There are three new cuvées from Antoine Jobard this year: a Meursault not previously bottled, a newly purchased Puligny Premier Cru, and a barrel of Meursault Perrières grown by a friend and exchanged for some Jobard Poruzots. The harvest began on 29th August with healthy grapes, very few treatments having been needed in the vines, which were picked around 12.2% with correct yields around 50 hl/ha. This is a superb address for Meursault which ages with distinction. From the steep hillside in the hamlet of Blagny. Tight, soft with discreet and infused floral notes with a finely chiselled finish.
Francis Huicq, London Shop Manager

Brilliantly rich and round, this needs a little time in the mouth for the detail to be revealed. Fresh, yet certainly ripe, with tingling minerality, it is totally balanced and has an exceptionally long finish. A young lady still, this Les Demoiselles is a great white Burgundy in the making.

The bouquet of this wine offers some floral notes, with some stone fruit behind. The palate is undeveloped with some enjoyable flesh, a peach or two, good acidity and persistence.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director During the last year, Etienne de Montille, who has run Château de Puligny-Montrachet for the last decade, bought out the previous owners. 2012 will therefore be the first vintage of the new regime and also the first which will be fully certified organic after completion of the necessary three years. In 2011 the Château has produced a good crop of white wines, with old-fashioned low alcohol levels in both the reds and whites: wines originally found to be around 12% abv have been adjusted to 12.5% abv, anything above that was untouched.

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Lovely pale lemon colour; a remarkably stylish nose with all the class of really top Puligny. Very linear but with lots of subtle nuances dancing around the core. Fresh acidity brings up a long finale.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

The former Domaine René Manuel has been purchased by investors, the vineyards being split between Domaine des Comtes Lafon and Domaine Roulot while Dominique Lafon himself has moved production of his own label wines to the Manuel cellars in Meursault, as well as gaining some Bourgogne Blanc vines. Though Dominique operates officially under the status of negociant, all the wines are domaine grown and bottled except the Bourgogne Blanc, which will be next year.

Pure, clean and fine with a lovely, dancing and floral Puligny-Montrachet note, this is great value for Caillerets. It displays a really fine bouquet and is really lovely, with plenty of density behind, but nothing heavy. You will really enjoy the fabulous finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau harvested from 27th August to 4th September in 2011, bringing in an increased crop in the region of 10% compared to 2010, and still well inside the permitted yields. Vinification was without problem and the wines are deserving of a relatively long maturation in barrel. This year sees the return of this domaines excellent Bourgogne Blanc to our list, as Jean-Baptiste he has sold his Aligoté vineyard and purchased another 1.22ha of well-placed Bourgogne Blanc vines instead. The quality here has leapt ahead since the move to new cellars in 2009 and pricing remains very reasonable.

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Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret is fresh and appealing from the floral bouquet onwards. A fully ripe wine with a beautiful broad palate and plenty of flesh. Very distinguished, this is likely to be accessible early.

Olivier’s Puligny Montrachet always delivers a deeper colour than his Meursault. It shows lovely yellow fruit, on the nose, hiding behind a matchstick reduction, and generous fruit including mirabelle plums on the palate. A luscious yet impeccably balanced wine, approachable early. .
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Buying Director

Jean-Baptiste feels that the vines in this vineyard are getting into their stride now that they have passed their 35th anniversary. It is hard to disagree; the wine is floral and mineral with a laser-like focus and purity, but with the stuffing to steer clear of any feeling of meanness or austerity. An excellent, benchmark Cailleret. Drink 2023-2030.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

The Bouzereau clan is widespread in the village of Meursault, with Domaine Michel Bouzereau at the forefront. Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau, Michel’s son, is now in sole charge. He moved to a purpose-built winery in 2009 which has made the winemaking a great deal easier to manage and has enabled Jean-Baptiste to refine his style towards greater purity as well as more substance. The wines are racked after 11 months, with the better village Meursaults and all the Premiers Crus being returned to barrel for additional ageing, before bottling early the following year. Jean-Baptiste explained that frost was more of a problem in the lower-lying Grands Charrons vineyard than Tessons and the Premiers Crus which sit on the slope. Overall he is around a third down on a normal year, mainly in the lesser appellations. Harvest began on 22nd September for the whites, and took place in good conditions. He feels that 2016 is a vintage which will appeal to Burgundy lovers, and one which shows each terroir with great clarity.

This comes from two parcels, one the irresistibly named Rue aux Vaches, above the village, and the other Noyers Bret, towards Chassagne. The whites are made by pressing whole bunches in a vertical press, just as in Champagne. The wine is very correct, fresh, with a little pulpy character that adds sufficient flesh. Drink 2019-2022.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

Based in Premeaux, just south of Nuits-St Georges, Domaine de la Vougeraie was created in 1999 when Jean-Claude Boisset decided to group together all the vineyard holdings of the various négociant companies he had acquired over the years. Pascal Marchand was put in charge in 1999, with Bernard Zito in the vineyards, which are farmed biodynamically. Pascal produced powerful wines, fairly heavily extracted in his early vintages but clearly moving to a softer style by 2004. The wines have subsequently been made by Pierre Vincent who has maintained the more delicate approach. Top-quality vineyards continue to be added, especially Grand Cru whites in recent vintages. This is Pierre Vincent’s last vintage, as he is now installed at Domaine Leflaive. Vougeraie is very happy with this year’s result, another domaine to call the vintage “très Bourguigonne”, meaning that the precision and purity of the fruit means this is more terroir-focused than 2015’s broader and more intense style. They are also very happy with the way the frosted and non-frosted vines finally ripened homogenously, giving much of the credit to their biodynamic culture. Given the health of the berries, a lot of whole bunches were used at fermentation.