Whites Under $50

wines

Opening in the glass with hints of honeycomb, toasted nuts, fresh pears and wet stones, the 2017 Mâcon-Cruzille Clos de la Mollepierre is medium to full-bodied, enveloping but precise, with a tensile core, excellent concentration and a long, chalky finish. It’s another very serious wine from Domaine Guillot-Broux.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92+ RP

Bursting with aromas of apples, pears, almonds, warm bread and dried fruits, the 2019 Méthode Ancestrale Une Bulle is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and concentrated, with lively acids and a pillowy mousse. It’s a touch drier than its 2018 counterpart.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RP

The Pouilly-Fuissé “les Vieux Murs” bottling from Maison Jean Loron is made from fruit sourced in two villages in the appellation: Fuissé, which is a bit warmer and provides a round, plush core of fruit, and the higher elevation Solutré, which delivers far more chalky minerality to the wine and the cut and acid backbone. The 2021 les Vieux Murs offers up a bright, classic and complex bouquet of apple, pear, orange zest, almond, chalky minerality, just a touch of buttery oak and a floral topnote redolent of fruit blossoms. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a lovely core of fruit, excellent soil signature and grip, zesty acids and a long, poised and beautifully balanced finish. In the cooler vintage of 2021, this excellent wine comes in at an even thirteen percent octane and is truly outstanding. (Drink between 2025 - 2035)John Gilman | 92 JG

The 2022 Pouilly-Fuissé Ax - B comes from the non-Première Cru classified part of Aux Bouthières and pressed at very low pressure, and aged for 15 months in used barrel. This is initially very understated, demands more coaxing from the glass than the Vieilles Vignes. But with time, it offers more mineralité and terroir expression, fine delineation with subtle struck flinty aromas manifesting with aeration. The palate is very well balanced with a taut line of acidity, certainly spicier and more peppery than the Vieilles Vignes with a soft landing on the finish. Great complexity here as I found in barrel last year - recommended.Vinous Media | 92 VM

The 2022 Saint-Véran La Grande Bruyère is aged in foudres installed at the Domaine in 2009 and comes from marn/Silesian soils that are apparently trickier to vinify. It has a complex bouquet, well-defined, with hints of camphor behind citrus fruit, marmalade and curry leaf. It’s mercurial and involving; these are absorbing aromatics. The palate is well balanced with tremendous weight, fine acidity, a slight reduction and traces of orange rind and white pepper toward the finish. Great length. This comes highly recommended.Vinous Media | 93 VM

This Vire Clesse from Roally showcases the pinnacle of Maconnais Chardonnay, hailing from one of the finest vintages in recent memory. On the nose, it offers an enticing bouquet of spring flowers intertwined with aromatic notes of lemon balm, white peach and verbena. On the palate, it is lively and fresh and the wine’s minerality shines through exhibiting the characteristic flinty undertone that is prized in the best examples from this appellation. This is the under $35 bottle of white Burgundy that Puligny Montrachet lovers serve at parties and pools. Sokolin Tasting Panel | 94 SP

The 2023 Saint-Véran from Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon is a lovely example of this fine vintage. The bouquet offers up a nicely ripe and vibrant blend of peach, apple, chalky soil tones, a hint of hazelnut, apple blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, crisp and complex, with a good core, fine soil undertow and grip, bouncy acids and a long, balanced and classy finish. Good juice. (Drink between 2025 - 2037)John Gilman | 92 JGThe 2023 Saint-Véran has a winsome bouquet, very pure with lemon curd and apricot notes that blossom in the glass. The palate is very well balanced with a peppery opening, fine weight and depth and a touch of Szechuan pepper on the finish. Recommended.Vinous Media | 90 VMFrom the communes of Prissé and Davayé. Pale lemon with a green streak, not quite clear. Quite pronounced ripe fruit with some generosity but there is a good backbone too, you can see the ripeness of the fruit though just 12% in alcohol. Drink from 2025-2028. Tasted Mar 2024.Jasper Morris | 88-90 JM