Burgundy White Wines

wines

Boasts an impressive concentration of lime, passion fruit and green apple aromas, with a firm, flinty minerality. The texture is dense but not heavy and surprisingly fresh for the vintage. The complex flavours echo on an interminable finish – this is among the great successes in Puligny this year. The grapes are from the 1.16ha of old vines at the north end of the clos that the Chartron family has owned for over a century. Cellar it for three to five years and drink over the next 20.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECTo my palate, Jean-Michel’s Clos de la Pucelle is always one of the finest premier cru bottlings made in Puligny and the 2023 version is no exception. The bouquet is complex, refined and vibrant, wafting from the glass in a mix of white peach, golden delicious apple, fresh almond, chalky soil tones, crème pâtissière, vanillin oak and citrus zest in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, very pure on the attack, rock solid at the core, with fine soil inflection, a lovely spine of acidity, great focus and grip and a long, complex and racy finish. This is more reserved than the Folatières in personality today, as it should be, but will clearly hit the higher mark once it is properly ready to drink. Great juice. (Drink between 2030 - 2060)John Gilman | 94+ JGPale lemon and lime. The bouquet is fresh and chiselled, a little more herbal in style, much steelier than Folatières. On the palate one finds the Pucelles rhythm, waves of white fruit of controlled intensity, with a more mineral finish. The length also exceeds that of the excellent Folatières. Drink from 2029-2034. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JMThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Pucelle 1er Cru is the monopole of the domaine. It has a more backward nose than other cuvées, with touches of orange blossoms and Granny Smith apples. The palate is well balanced, taut and fresh with a fine bead of acidity. It is tightly wound on the saline finish. This is a Puligny that will bide its time in bottle and reward those with the nous to cellar. This is very promising.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMHere too there is a suggestion of the exotic to the beautifully well-layered aromas of honeysuckle, white peach, acacia and subtle wood influence. The finer and more seductive, though less powerful and mineral-driven, flavors tighten up noticeably to become compact, serious and youthfully austere on the finale. While qualitatively similar to the Folatières, these are two very different wines.Burghound | 91-93 BH

A marvellous success, with a great concentration of pomelo, passion fruit and nectarine aromas, with a hint of white blossoms and flinty minerality. The texture is lively and crisp, but there is enough density to give this impressive length on the finish. The grapes are from the half-hectare the domaine owns here; they are lightly crushed before fermentation and ageing in cask, 30% new. Give this wine five to seven years before opening; it should last 20 years for those who have the patience to wait.Decanter Magazine | 95 DECThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet “Folatières” from the Chartron family is an excellent wine. It was raised in twenty percent new oak this year and reveals a refined aromatic constellation of pear, apple, chalky soil tones, fruit blossoms, vanillin oak and a lovely topnote of orange zest. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, crisp and precise, with a succulent core of fruit, excellent acidity and soil signature, fine balance and a long, very elegant finish. Fine, fine juice. (Drink between 2028 - 2050)John Gilman | 93 JGThere is a whiff of exoticism to the cool aromas of citrus confit, white peach, passion fruit and acacia blossom. There is better volume to the solidly concentrated and relatively powerful medium-bodied flavors that retain good delineation on the stony, youthfully austere and serious finale that is supported by lemon-tinged acidity. This is a big, even robust, Folatières. (Drink starting 2031)Burghound | 91-93 BHThis is made from Chartron Hameau de Blagny vines (80%) plus some purchases. Pale in colour, on the leaner side, less engaging than Enseignères, quite tightly wound, a bit of white fruit but also plenty of oak. Needs a little time to come into place.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JMThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet les Folatières 1er Cru has a straightforward bouquet that doesn’t have the same degree of mineralité as the Vieilles Vignes this year. I wonder if this has more to give. The palate is taut on the entry, with satisfying weight, yet it needs a little more tension and energy on the finish.Vinous Media | 89-91 VM

The 2023 version of the Corton Blanc from Domaine Pavelot is simply outstanding. The beautiful and slightly exotic bouquet delivers a beautiful mosaic of apple, pear, passion fruit, crème pâtissière, fresh almond, a complex base of chalky soil tones and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, vibrant and complex, with a great core and mineral undertow, a fine girdle of acidity, impeccable balance and a long, precise and vibrant finish. Utterly superb. (Drink between 2029 - 2050)John Gilman | 95 JGLes Chaumes. Mid lemon yellow. Here the oak is more evident, there are one and a half barrels of one year old wood. Plump behind. The oak will take a little digesting but the fruit will clearly be equal to it and the acidity is just right. Drink from 2029-2034. Tasted Dec 2024.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JMA deft application of wood sets off ripe and fresh aromas of pear and apple compote, lemon confit, petrol and crushed fennel. There is fine volume to the dense, powerful and muscular big-bodied flavors that terminate in a youthfully austere, rustic and borderline tannic finale. This powerful effort could use better depth so at least a few years of keeping are recommended.Burghound | 91 BH

The wonderful Corton-Charlemagne from Rapet offers pronounced apricot and quince fruit with a lemon-peel edge. The texture is rich and dense, yet balanced by a surprisingly crisp acidity for the vintage. The grapes from En Charlemagne, Chaumes et La Voierosse and Les Combes were picked on 11 September, right before the rain, and pressed as whole clusters before fermentation, mostly in 250-litre casks with a bit of foudre and one amphora. Ideally, I would age this at least 10 years and enjoy it over the next 40.Decanter Magazine | 96 DECRapet’s 2023 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru unfurls in the glass with aromas of peach and pear, mingled with white flowers, wet stones, crushed mint and hazelnut. Full-bodied, satiny and layered, it’s deep and concentrated, with racy acids and a seamless, complete profile. This vintage marks a step up in texture and mid-palate volume for Rapet, and it is well worth seeking out.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95+ RPThe 2023 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru comes mainly from the lieu-dit of En Charlemagne and was matured in one-third new oak plus amphora and foudre. What a lovely bouquet! Delineated and fresh with hints of oyster shell and crushed stone, this exudes class. The palate is well balanced with fine weight, a keen line of acidity, hints of apricot and hazelnut and a poised but sustained finish. Bon vin!Vinous Media | 95 VMThe 2023 Corton-Charlemagne from Domaine Rapet Père et Fils is a beautiful young wine. It shows off superb depth and nascent complexity on the nose, soaring from the glass in a mix of pear, passion fruit, a gorgeous mosaic of limestone minerality, almond, white lilies, honeysuckle and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with a great foundation of Corton-Charlemagne minerality, bright acids, great focus and grip and a complex, impeccably balanced and very long finish. This is still a very young wine and I would try to not touch a bottle until it has had at least five or six years’ worth of cellaring. It should prove to be very long-lived. (Drink between 2030 - 2065)John Gilman | 95 JGThere are various ages of vine in the Rapet holding, with plantings in 1945 and 1950 plus 1980s and a 2018 plot. Mostly made in 350-litre barrels, plus one 12hl foudre, an egg, and a terracotta amphora. Lemon and lime, with some classic Charlemagne style fruit on the nose, a delicious lemon touch. The stones infuse the finish which is very persistent. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 93-95 JMThis is very firmly reduced and while the reduction does not extend to the palate, it’s clear that the nose will need extended aeration. Much more interesting are the sappy, powerful and muscular flavors that also display evidence minerality on the long, compact and balanced finale. This is one of those wines that’s difficult to rate because while the reduction may dissipate with time, that is a supposition, not a guarantee.Burghound | 91 BH