Wine & Spirits - October 2019 - 99

IMPORTED NEW RELEASES
MOREY-ST-DENIS
272457

91 | Domaine Ponsot

$218

2016 Morey-St-Denis 1er Cru Vieilles
Vignes Monopole Clos des Monts Luisants ^
It's rare to find parcels of white grapes in the
Côte de Nuits; it's unique to find aligoté vines
in a Côte de Nuits premier cru. These vines
date to 1911 and give a wine with the earthy
intensity you might hope to find in such a
rarity, scents of chamomile and meadow
flowers lifting its waxy texture and savory
bone-broth flavors. In all the notes I took
on this wine, including transcriptions from
our panelists, there is not a single mention
of fruit, yet the supple, earthy depths of flavor completely held our attention. § Vineyard
Brands, Birmingham, AL -J.G.

develop over the next several years in bottle. §
Banville Wine Merchants, NY -J.G.
272600

88 | Château Vitallis

$25

2017 Pouilly-Fuissé Les Vignes du Château (Best Buy) ^ This is a simple, clean
Pouilly-Fuissé with warm, buttery flavors of
lemon and roast butternut squash. It's a salty,
autumnal white to serve at Thanksgiving dinner. § David Milligan Selections, NY -J.G.

PULIGNY-MONTRACHET

PERNAND-VERGELESSES
$174

$65

2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les
Folatières ^ Folatières can deliver the richness
of a grand cru, as it does here in a wine of
tense and cushioned power. There's delicacy
to its scents of green tea and orange-blossom
honey, and a tang to the yellow-cherry depth
of flavor. Lemony acidity keeps it crunchy
and tight, built for long aging. § Vineyard
Brands, Birmingham, AL -J.G.
272454

2017 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Sous
Frétille ^ Etienne Delarche is based in Pernand-Vergelesses, where he farms this premier-cru site on a hillside facing south across
to Corton-Charlemagne. He lets the wine ferment spontaneously, ages it in older oak and
bottles it without fining or filtering. You can
sense its substance in the rich, earthy taste of
lemon and chamomile, and in the tart greenapple acidity that makes short work of the
rich texture and leaves a light, smoky savor in
its wake. A lovely traditional white Burgundy. §
North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA -J.G.

2017 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les
Referts ^ A voluptuous young Puligny, this
wine's concentration and density forms a
potent wall of flavor. Look closely and you
might find scents of white roses and green
tea, hints of smoked meats, yellow apple,
lemon... The more you return to the wall,
the more layers of fruit and lees it reveals.
If you can afford several bottles, this would
be fascinating to follow as it ages. § Vineyard
Brands, Birmingham, AL -J.G.
272497

273349

92 | Domaine Marius
Delarche

P O U I L LY - F U I S S E
272505

91 | Meurgey-Croses

$45

2016 Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles Vignes ^ Pierre
Meurgey works with one grower in each of
four appellations in the Mâconnais, including a farmer with five parcels in Pouilly; the
vines for this selection average 75 years old.
He ferments the wine in barrels (25 percent
new), producing a classical Pouilly-Fuissé
with nutty and toasty scents over a full, mineral-tinged structure. It has a fresh vanillabean note from the oak, and roundness
to the texture. There's complexity here to

93 | Domaine J.M. Boillot

92 | J-L & F Chavy

$130

$83

2016 Puligny-Montrachet Les Charmes ^
Puligny depths of fresh chamomile and green
tea fill this wine's tense structure. There's
substantial fruit to enrich it, from orange oil
to tart Rainier cherries. It ends on a savory
note of fennel seeds and smoke, infused with
enough energy to warrant three or four years
of aging. § Banville Wine Merchants, NY -J.G.
272799

92 | Louis Jadot

92 | Thierry et Pascale
Matrot

$122

2016 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les
Folatières ^ This has the yellow spice of a field
carpeted in chamomile, an earthy, waxy, floral tone that seamlessly integrates the oak

$113

2017 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les
Chalumeaux ^ Chris Hallowell, a former tasting director at Wine & Spirits who is launching a wine bar in Stamford, Connecticut,
said, "I want more wines like this: It's not
shattering any molds; it's totally satisfied
with the status quo and presents it well." It's a
completely saturated, oaky white Burgundy,
creamy and leesy with fresh lemon peel and
toasted cereal notes. Rich, bold and lasting. §
Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL -J.G.
272501

91 | J-L & F Chavy

272616

94 | Vincent Girardin

and fruit elements of the wine. It has the
flamboyant savor of a bloomy-rind cheese,
nutty and satisfying. The structure, both rich
and tense, will hold the wine for five years or
more. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY -J.G.
272469

$78

2016 Puligny-Montrachet ^ Plump and opulent, this wine's baked-yellow-apple flavors
come with enough zesty freshness to keep
them firm and clean. Notes of flint and salted
cream add to the wine's mineral depths. It's a
savory Puligny that needs two or three years
to fully emerge. § Banville Wine Merchants, NY
272903

91 | Etienne Sauzet

$130

90 | Etienne Sauzet

$130

2017 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Hameau de Blagny ^ From the top of the hill,
where Puligny meets Meursault, this wine is
tightly structured, juicy and cool. There's a
lovely burl to it, seamlessly integrating concentrated orange-oil depths of fruit with a
saltiness that lends elegant mineral length. §
Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL -J.G.
272899
2017 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru La
Garenne ^ This wine's fruit is buttercupyellow, with richness that brings to mind
lemon custard and notes of lavender. There's
enough acidity to clean up that richness, so
the wine feels potent and satisfying as it lasts. §
Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL -J.G.

ST-VERAN
272773

90 | Damien Martin

$26

2018 St-Véran ^ St-Véran makes up the biggest
holding in Damien Martin's family domaine,
with 13.5 acres in the appellation. He makes
this wine mostly in stainless steel; the ten percent that went into barrels lends a hint of oak
tannins to structure the wine's clean peach
and pineapple flavors and the wheaty scents
of lees. It's pale and friendly. § Hand Picked
Selections, Warrenton, VA -J.G.

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2019

http://www.vincentgirardin.com/en/wines/puligny-montrachet-1er-cru-les-folati-res.php http://www.northberkeleyimports.com/wordpress/project/domaine-marius-delarche/

Wine & Spirits - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2019