Puligny Montrachet

wines

Aromas of pear, hazelnuts, crisp green apple, fresh peach and orange oil, framed by a touch of youthful reduction, preface Leflaive’s 2019 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières, a medium to full-bodied, ample and incisive wine with a fleshy and enveloping core of fruit that’s underpinned by a tangy spine of acidity that animates the long, saline finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94 RPThe 2019 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er Cru has a little more amplitude compared to the Clavaillon, scents of Granny Smith apples and dewy meadow on a cold morning. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, a little more weight and girth than the Clavaillon, not to mention a touch more salinity and race on the persistent finish. Excellent. Closure: Diam 30Vinous Media | 94 VMLeflaive farms three parcels in Folatières totalling 1.26 hectares. The site has very little soil, and the vines are almost right on the limestone. This precocious site is often the first to be picked. In 2019 it delivered a wine that shows ripe aromas of passionfruit and ripe Cavaillon melon. The modest use of new oak (20%) assures purity of fruit. There is still enough acidity here to balance, and the wine is extremely seductive yet also extremely ageworthy. Ideally for mid-term drinking.Decanter | 94 DECFine pure fresh lemon colour. A wonderfully clear nose with a depth of fruit and enough precision. The little touches of yellow fruit which this vintage gives. Ripe citrus notes, then more of a white fruit finish. Even just a touch of grapefruit. An interesting complex wine which avoids being too juicy. Tasted: May 2022.Jasper Morris | 94 JMA lean, bracing white, revealing floral, lemon, green apple, sour plum and baking spice flavors. Racy, finding its balance in the end and staying long, detailed on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2028. 65 cases made, 13 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSHere the beautifully layered nose flirts with the exotic in the form of white and yellow peach, dried apricot, jasmine tea and a similar array of spice wisps. The ripe yet restrained and more obviously mineral-driven flavors possess excellent depth and persistence on the very lemon tinged finale. This too is noticeably firmer and should reward a decade plus of keeping.Burghound | 92-94 BH

Bottled yesterday. Pale colour, elegant and stylish, then keeps going, this isa Folatières of elegance more than weight, with a classy and nuanced white fruit. Allow for this to develop more body as it grows up in bottle. Drink from 2028-2037. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 94 JMThere is a vague whiff of the exotic present on the elegant nose that offers up essence of pear, passion fruit and discreet floral wisps. The middleweight flavors are finer though not as concentrated while displaying very good length on the, stone and bitter lemon-inflected bone-dry finale.Burghound | 91 BH

This village-level appellation enjoys a prime position just underneath the premier crus Perrières. In 2022, the grapes delivered a charming wine with forward aromas of lemon peel, flint and flowers. The texture is fresh and lively, and there is considerable extract that draws it out to an impressive finish, particularly for a village wine. The grapes are from 1.17 hectares at the northern edge of the climat; they are crushed and firmly pressed before fermenting in cask (15% new) to produce this delicious wine.Decanter Magazine | 94 DECThe 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Les Nosroyes has a similar reduction to the Les Levrons, focused and perhaps even more concentrated. The palate is well-balanced with impressive depth. There’s not quite the mineralité of a Premier Cru, but ample concentration with a lively, spicy finish. Delicious.Vinous Media | 91-93 VMPale lemon in colour. The bouquet is open and expressive, slightly more in fresh orchard fruit than floral, but with a pleasing elegance. There is just a little more intensity on the palate, with a racy fresh fruit quality and good length. A little fuller bodied all the way through, and keeps on going. Tasted Oct 2023.Jasper Morris | 90-93 JM

This is even cooler and more restrained as the nose only grudgingly reveals its aromas of mineral reduction, green apple, spice, acacia blossom and a deft touch of wood. The gorgeously textured medium weight flavors brim with both minerality and sappy dry extract that buffers the youthfully austere and even more persistent finish. This too is very classy and a classic Clos de la Mouchère of grace and poise. If you can find it, buy it.Burghound | 95 BHA fuller yellow here, and an extra degree of completeness, more weight and almost all the class. The oak is still at 50% new and is very well integrated. Gorgeously rich, with little fruits dancing through a meadow. Once again, I do see the magic of this. Henri was strongly advised by his father to look after “Madame de la Mouchère”. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 94-97 JMThe 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Mouchère 1er Cru is another very classy wine. Vertical in feel, the 2023 is super-bright from the outset. White pepper, flowers, mint, sage and pear reinforce that impression. Readers will find an airy, deceptively mid-weight Puligny that possesses remarkable depth.Vinous Media | 93-95 VM

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Les Chalumeaux 1er Cru is more understated but more complex than the Hameau, with fine delineation and crushed stone infusing malic scents. The palate is well balanced with a twist of sour lemon on the entry, tensile and focused with a precise and quite persistent finish. This is a well-crafted Puligny that will give a decade’s drinking pleasure.Vinous Media | 92 VM

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Champ Canet 1er Cru showed more reduction on the nose, yet there is clearly a lot of intensity here. It’s slightly more resinous than its peers, containing touches of melted candle wax and lanolin. The palate is well balanced and poised, with a keen silver thread of acidity and real energy building toward an assertive and complex finish. It is far superior to the 2022 when I tasted it last year. This is superb.Vinous Media | 93-95 VMA fine mid lemon colour. Discretion continues to be the Sauzet watchword. The Champ Canet has the ideal balance between the concentration of white fruit flesh, acidity, nuance and length. The fruit ripples over a bed of minerals. Very compelling. Drink from 2029-2035. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 93-96 JMVery firm reduction is such that the lightly wooded nose reveals nothing today. By contrast, there is good verve to the delicious and attractively textured flavors that aren’t quite as dense as those of the Truff but, also somewhat unusually, they do display more minerality on the bitter lemon zest-inflected finale.Burghound | 90-93 BH

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 1er Cru has another riveting bouquet with notes of white peach, orange pith and crushed limestone. It is intense but very elegant and delineated. The palate has exquisite balance and a little more rondeur compared to others. A touch more spiciness emerges toward the finish, with perhaps the longest aftertaste. This is superb.Vinous Media | 94-96 VMHere too the nose is cool and airy with its aromas of smoked apple, acacia blossom, crushed fennel and citrus confit. The richer and more concentrated, though less mineral-driven, middle weight flavors coat the palate with sappy dry extract on the clean, dry, delineated and balanced finale. This is really quite classy and well-worth your interest.Burghound | 91-94 BHA large block adjacent to Meursault. A fairly pale lemon yellow, with a concentration of solid white fruit on the palate. Significant weight, powerful on the palate, all very much a monolithic block of flavour, some ripe grapefruit at the finish. Weightier perhaps but Benoît’s style here at Sauzet is not for the massive. Two thirds come from 70 year old vines, one third 30. Good acidity to finish. Drink from 2029-2034. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 91-94 JM

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet Les Perrières 1er Cru has a compelling strictness and mineralité on the nose, averting the more tropical inclinations of the preceding Champ Gain. It has just a small touch of reduction. The palate is well balanced with a keen line of acidity. There is a patina of oak to be absorbed, but there is real tension and attack in this Les Perrières. This is a concentrated wine that deserves more time in bottle.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMMid lemon yellow, a stony tension to the nose, softer fruit behind that, as we are lower on the slope, with an engaging generous finish, infiltrated by the sense of minerality. Very persistent. Drink from 2028-2034. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 92-94 JMAn airy and cool nose combines notes of pear and citrus with those of acacia blossom and just sliced citrus. Once again the mouthfeel of the medium-bodied flavors is super-sleek with a beguiling sense of underlying tension that carries over to the saliva-inducing, stony and beautifully delineated finale that isn’t quite as complex or persistent though it’s close.Burghound | 90-92 BH

The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet les Referts 1er Cru shows a little more ripeness and tropical traits than other cuvées from Sauzet. Its bouquet features notes of pineapple, nectarine and citrus peel, yet there remains delineation and mineralité that upholds a sense of Puligny-Montrachet. The palate is well balanced and weighty in the mouth, but I admire the tension and poise. It gradually builds toward the harmonious and subtle spice on the finish. Give this time.Vinous Media | 92-94 VMA slighter fuller lemon and lime colour. The bouquet suggests greater density of fruit. A light lick of oak which suits the more clay-based wines. Excellent energy, the oak backing up the fresh vigour of the fruit, and a well-balanced finish. Not the ripest, but quite powerful. Drink from 2028-2035. Tasted Oct 2024.Jasper Morris | 92-95 JMPungent aromas of moderate reduction and wood toast prevent an assessment of the nose. More interesting are the succulent, round and caressing middle weight flavors that possess solid volume and power that seems to build on the compact, sappy and well-balanced finale. Fine development potential here.Burghound | 91-93 BH