La Garenne

This small, stony, wind-whipped vineyard sits above Les Perrières. These factors and its thin soils mean its fruit often struggles to ripen. Étienne and Brian prefer to age this cuvée in 600-litre barrels, to give the wine more compensating flesh. For fans of this style, the 2016 is super; the freshness of the vintage doubles up with the site’s minerality to create a purist’s delight. Drink 2020-2028.
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.

This high, exposed vineyard close to Blagny is benefitting from this current run of warm vintages. The 50-year-old vines yield very small berries, but the warmth of the year has added some lustrous fruit to the steely core of minerality. Drink 2024-2029.

One of Puligny’s higher Premier Crus, towards St Aubin. This altitude gives it a lemon zestiness and its minerality emerges more as spiciness. In 2018 there is an appealing pithy citrus texture and acidity to add to the wine’s usual forthright character. A very clean-boned wine; not much flesh but strong and securely built. Its asceticism belies its ability to age very well. Drink 2024-2030.