Bourgogne Blanc

Once again we have worked with our trusted friends Jean-Luc Terrier and Christian Collovray to create this delicious expression of mineral Burgundian Chardonnay. With delicate floral aromas, the palate abounds with vibrant citrus and peach fruit, finishing on a subtle, smoky note thanks to well-judged oak. An excellent aperitif, a fresh, crisp profile makes this an ideal match for salads, seafood and lighter meat dishes.
Adam Bruntlett - Wine Buyer

The yield here was just 28hl/ha on average and the resultant concentration is noticeable. The fruit profile is more citrus-driven than one often expects from this wine, with a hint of grapefruit and lime. Saline and a touch austere at present, this will fill out in time. Drink 2019-2023.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

Fichet’s big step forward came in 2000 when he moved the whole operation to splendid cellars at Le Creux du Coche by the Hôpital de Meursault. Jean-Philippe is looking for purity in his wines. He deals mostly with lieux-dits in Meursault with just one Premier Cru in Puligny. Constantly experimenting and refining, his wines have real definition and individuality, with the individual terroirs clearly exposed. The wines are raised in barrel for the first year, using larger demi- muids for the lesser appellations, then assembled in tank. A maximum of 30 percent new oak is used on any cuvée. It is hard not to be infected by Jean- Philippe’s enthusiasm and positivity. Despite being 40 percent down in 2016, he remained upbeat, explaining that he sees the variability of vintages as part and parcel of a vigneron ’s lot. The losses could have been much worse, but the domaine is equipped with candles which protect against frost and they work hard in the vines to keep grass low to reduce the risk of frost damage. He declared himself happy with the quality, but feels it is a vintage which will require patience on the part of the consumer, as many of the wines will be more austere in youth than those of 2015.

Ninety percent of the fruit for this wine comes from Bourgogne vineyards in the villages of Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault, with the remainder coming from the cooler, higher-altitude Hautes Côtes de Beaune and Nuits, adding a touch of steel and chalky minerality to the mix. The exceptionally small 2016 vintage meant that the whole cuvée was fermented and aged in oak barrels, around 15 percent of which was new. There is a prickly tension to this wine from the first sip, with citrus and orchard fruits to the fore, and a chalky, almost lacy texture which hints at a much grander wine. Precise, energetic and vibrant with just the right amount of oak, this is certainly a mini-Puligny.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

The older vines here date back to 1937. A fine, pale colour with the faintest green tint, this has a juicy, grapey luscious nose, a real treat. With good acidity, it has a little bit of heat but stays fresh behind thanks to some racy lime-juice notes. Drink 2018-2020.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

With prices in Burgundy still rising, even if often for understandable reasons, the appellations Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge are great places to look for affordable wines. You get the opportunity to drink wine from a top winemaker, from vines which are adjacent to the famous villages, and which will be accessible earlier. The 2005 Bourgognes Rouges are still delicious and youthful more than 10 years later, but most wines have been drinking well for a few years now. 

This includes an assortment from the Hautes Côtes, Petit Vougeot, Beaune Blanc and various younger vineyards. Very neatly handled, it has lovely citrus and exotic fruit notes, with a nice twist of 30 percent new oak and some fat from finishing the élevage in tank on the lees. Faultless at this level. Drink 2019-2021.
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.

Much of this cuvée was lost to frost in ’16, but Antoine is happy with its quality – highlighting its finesse and freshness. There’s a gorgeous honeyed note to the nose, and a hint of the “noble” reduction characteristic of many of Antoine’s wines. There’s surprising weight to the palate, and a long, saline finish.

From various sources in Beaune and the Hautes Côtes, this has a fine, pale colour, with a slight green tint. The nose has lovely, deliberate reduction woven in. There is attractive energy here, the fruit building very nicely to the back, with good, chiselled, crystalline verve. Excellent. 
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

This is sourced from vineyards below Meursault and Puligny, and has been in bottle since September. The wine is completely beautiful – a lovely expression of fruit, with just the right amount of flesh and absolute precision. It’s electric. It is hard to envisage a better example.

Production of the Dominique Lafon wines has now moved to large cellars at the Château de Bligny, providing much better working conditions than previously. As a result of the hail, there is unlikely to be any village Volnay or Beaune Épenottes for us to offer. However, Dominique has found an excellent source of Beaune Vignes Franches this year to make up part of the shortfall. This cuvée apart, all the vineyards are managed by the Les Héretiers du Comte Lafon viticultural team, using the same methods. Starting this year, the wines will all be bottled using Diam30 corks. From vineyards below Meursault and Puligny, In bottle since September. This is completely beautiful, a lovely expression of fruit, with just the right amount of flesh, absolute precision, very electric. It’s hard to envisage a better example.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Lovely, pure, fine colour, this is much more elegant than Patrick’s Les Forgets cuvée. It is a wine of grace and definition, but still with suitable flesh. Really fine balance, the 2014 is terrific. Very persistent indeed.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Two-thirds comes from below Puligny and the rest from below Meursault. This is a refreshing 12.5 percent alcohol wine with very pretty floral notes yet still some flesh on the bones. It’s light on its feet yet very persistent. Drink 2017-2019.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

With prices in Burgundy still rising, even if often for understandable reasons, the appellations Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge are great places to look for affordable wines. You get the opportunity to drink wine from a top winemaker, from vines which are adjacent to the famous villages, and which will be accessible earlier. The 2005 Bourgognes Rouges are still delicious and youthful more than 10 years later, but most wines have been drinking well for a few years now. 

Grown in two plots, half below Meursault and half below Puligny, the wine has a fine, pale lemon colour. It’s very elegant and stylish, with pure and delicious fruit. Good fresh acidity; poised and balanced. Drink 2018-2019.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

With prices in Burgundy still rising, even if often for understandable reasons, the appellations Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge are great places to look for affordable wines. You get the opportunity to drink wine from a top winemaker, from vines which are adjacent to the famous villages, and which will be accessible earlier. The 2005 Bourgognes Rouges are still delicious and youthful more than 10 years later, but most wines have been drinking well for a few years now. On these two pages we offer a selection of our favourite Bourgognes.

The produce of 48- to 52-year-old vines and more importantly from the best plots on stony and marly soils, this has an impressive dramatic tension, mineral and linear with fresh lime notes at the back. Proper job. Drink 2018-2022.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

With prices in Burgundy still rising, even if often for understandable reasons, the appellations Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge are great places to look for affordable wines. You get the opportunity to drink wine from a top winemaker, from vines which are adjacent to the famous villages, and which will be accessible earlier. The 2005 Bourgognes Rouges are still delicious and youthful more than 10 years later, but most wines have been drinking well for a few years now. 

Bright, pale yellow. Lemon, lime, white flowers and minerals on the musky but pure nose. Dry but ripe and easygoing, offering good clarity to the supple flavors of apple and white flowers.
Stephen Tanzer - Vinous, May 2015

This cuvée is a tribute to Olivier’s uncle, Vincent Leflaive, and made exclusively from vineyards in Puligny, 80 percent of which are domaine -owned. A wine of real energy with wonderful finesse and purity, it is no exaggeration to call this a mini-Puligny. There is a sizzling, crackling freshness to this wine, along with a remarkable complexity which points to a promising future. Drink 2018-2022.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

After studying at business school, Olivier Leflaive headed to Paris to live a rather bohemian life during the 1970s, working in music and television. He returned to Burgundy in 1981 to manage Domaine Leflaive with his uncle Vincent and later his cousin Anne-Claude. Having long-aspired to work for himself, he set up his own négociant business in 1984 and, upon leaving the family domaine a decade later, he gave 15 years’ notice that he would take back his share of the family vines from 2009. Experienced winemaker Franck Grux now makes between 85 and 90 different cuvées, vinifying the equivalent of 120 hectares, of which 17 are estate. The focus here is on elegance and finesse over power. Winemaker Franck Grux is very pleased with the quality of the 2016 vintage, although he explained that the frost damage caused grapes to ripen at different times, which required a great deal of patience and necessitated extending the harvest to three weeks, as opposed to the normal two. The Puligny vineyards were relatively lucky in terms of frost damage, giving good yields. Franck explained that he carried out more lees stirring in 2016 than in 2015 to give the wines more weight, feeling that 2016 is a vintage with comparatively modest body and ripeness. Unless otherwise stated, all wines are domaine.

This is Javillier’s flagship cuvée of generic burgundy, bottled in October. It has an impressively fresh nose, with good weight of white and yellow fruit on the palate. Middleweight, lively acidity, very attractive.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Patrick chose to begin early around 26 September in order to pick while the grapes were still healthy, the relatively high acidity encouraged him to stir the lees a little more than usual and the wines were racked into tank just before the new harvest, apart from the Corton-Charlemagne which is back in barrel.

Dominique has produced a vibrant, bouncing, exuberant Bourgogne Blanc with great energy, lovely yellow plum fruit, in perfect balance. All in all a superb Bourgogne Blanc.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

2012 is the fifth vintage of Dominique Lafon’s own private domaine. As elsewhere quantities are tiny – indeed we shall have no Premier Cru Volnay Les Lurets to offer this year, as the small production has gone back to the owners to cover their fixed rent according to the fermage agreement. We only have a handful of cases of the other wines, excepting the superb Bourgogne Blanc, which escaped the hail. We anticipate a redesigned label for the 2012 vintage.

Burgundy Vintage 2010 Best Buys - Affordable Gems
From the vines planted in the grounds of the château, this could really be a Puligny-Montrachet on the nose with its lifted aromas, energy and drive on the palate.
(Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager)

This is fine Bourgogne Blanc from what used to be the park in front of the château. It has an engaging nose where the fruit stands out immediately, good flesh on the palate and a fine long finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Presenting itself with a fine clear and pale colour, with just a little touch of oak on the nose, this wine shows exceptional class throughout. There is plenty of fresh acidity here but it is seamlessly integrated into the flesh of the fruit.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Arnaud Ente is always one of the first to pick. His meticulous vineyard work and low yields encourage early ripeness, so in 2010 he could start on 15th September. The yield is much the same as 2008 and Arnaud notes similar acidity readings, but with much more flesh on the palate and finer aromatics. The label has also been fine-tuned this year and is now exceptionally handsome. Overall, these are breath-taking wines.

Exhibiting a lovely nose with lots of character and even a touch of menthol, this is a superb Bourgogne Blanc. It is full of life and lift, whilst also possessing good crunchy acidity, plenty of body and an attractive steely quality.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

The 2010s here come in various slightly different styles according to the picking date. Bourgogne Oligocene was picked early, most of the Meursaults the following week while Tte de Murger came in last with extra ripeness in the grapes. Plans are taking place for the future though Patrick has no intention of retiring yet. One daughter, Marion, has been working with him for several years and he has now been joined by son-in-law Pierre-Emmanuel Lamy (no relation to Olivier).

The blend for this wine is typically an equal split of vineyards below Meursault and below Puligny, but frost damage in Meursault means the balance is closer to 70:30 in favour of Puligny. The resultant wine has a good weight of citrus fruit and pleasing saline minerality. The predominance of Puligny seems to give greater finesse and tension to the wine. Drink 2020-2022.
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.

Although it has vines up to 80 years old, the vineyard used to be an orchard, so cannot claim Puligny village status. The fruit was harvested on 18th September, then went into 600-litre barrels (10 percent new) and stainless steel. The resultant wine carries the village character with minerality over body or obvious fruit – austere in an appropriate way. A neat and purposeful wine. Drink 2019-2021.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

The Château de Puligny-Montrachet was a slumbering force until finally being awoken by the arrival of Étienne de Montille in time to oversee the 2001 vintage. Under Étienne, yields have been drastically reduced and the wines are handled much more sympathetically in the cellar so that the quality of the fruit dominates the oak. In 2012 Étienne and investors purchased the property and have radically reformed the estate, dropping unsuitable vineyards, converting to organic (and indeed biodynamic) farming, and further improving the winemaking. It was a successful vintage here in terms of quality, under the eye of cellar master Brian Sieve. He recounts how the lower slopes of Puligny-Montrachet and the Bourgogne Blanc vineyards on the plain escaped nearly all the frost, but the lower Meursault vineyards were almost entirely affected. For Château de Puligny-Montrachet, this is a good vintage – maybe lacking the flesh of a truly great year, but equally delicious in its accessibility. Not all the vineyards suffered, but there were, nevertheless, some serious reductions in certain sites.

From the Puligny side of the generic land, which was frosted, but not heavily, this carries 35 percent new oak and has a defined, clear Puligny style, with tight fruit and a kernel of nuttiness. Neatly made, it has substance for a Bourgogne Blanc – indeed, it’s as good as a village Puligny at other addresses. Drink 2019-2021.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

The Javilliers have been involved in the wine business for generations as courtiers. When Patrick started out in 1974 this was the main source of his income, alongside which he worked three hectares of vineyards. His courtier days are now long behind him, and his domaine covers nine hectares. Recently, Patrick has been joined by his daughter Marion and her brother-in-law Pierre- Emmanuel Lamy. Patrick is not far away from 50 vintages; Marion is now making the estate’s red wines, and Pierre-Emmanuel largely does the whites – not that Patrick is taking a back seat. As always, conversation with him is peppered with observations; indeed he has been closely involved in the discussions to create a new generic Côte d’Or appellation, a move that would appear to now just need a rubber stamp. There wasn’t too much frost damage here and harvesting began on 20th September; Patrick observes that the character of the vintage is one that can take a bit more bâtonnage than usual.