Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 107

YEAR'S BEST WHITE BURGUNDIES
90 | Meurgey-Croses

$25

2015 Mâcon-Uchizy ^ Pierre Meurgey works
with a grower based in Davayé for his Mâcon
wines, including this bottling from the north
of the region, close to the village of Chardonnay. He ferments it in stainless steel, producing a bright, sunny, chamomile-scented
white, lasting with clean freshness. § Banville
Wine Merchants, NY
227611

90 | Dom. Daniel Pollier

$18

2016 Mâcon-Fuissé (Best Buy) ^ With its light
chamomile scent, touches of sweet orange
flavor and plenty of cleansing acidity, this is a
simply presented Mâcon white. The acidity is
a little jangly at the moment, needing a year
to settle in, while the fragrant fruit will easily last longer. § Monsieur Touton Selection, NY
227639

88 | Dom. des Valanges

$16

2015 Mâcon-Prissé Le Clos (Best Buy) ^ This
wine's leesy depths carry a funky cheese-rind
note, bringing to mind Manchego. It finishes
on a cleaner note of lemon butter, making it
a match for scallops in beurre blanc. § Craft +
Estate/The Winebow Group, NY

P O U I L LY - F U I S S E
227148

92 | Domaine J.A. Ferret

$62

2015 Pouilly-Fuissé Tournant de Pouilly
Cuvée Hors-Classe ^ The soil at this east-facing vineyard on the border between Fuissé
and Pouilly is made up of fossilized oyster
shells, the vines averaging 50 years of age.
They produced a tight, silky white in 2015,
with floral notes of beeswax, chamomile and
freshly churned butter. This is light, fresh
and harmonious, suited to several years of
evolution in bottle, or dinner tonight with
seared scallops and wild mushroom risotto. §
Kobrand, Purchase, NY
227612

92 | Dom. Daniel Pollier

$23

2016 Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles Vignes (Best
Buy) ^ Give this time to open and it sheds
any initial woody oak influence, presenting
lovely richness and fragrant fresh-cut apple
flavors that last. A concentrated wine from a
parcel of 70-year-old vines, this is youthful
and needs time to develop; notes of lemon
tarragon already hint at the flavor complexity to come. § Monsieur Touton Selection, NY
227147

91 | Domaine J.A. Ferret

ing the richness of the vintage with the briskness of limestone acidity. The baked orange
notes show some alcohol, while soft chalkiness takes it in an ornate direction. § Kobrand,
Purchase, NY
227149

91 | Domaine J.A. Ferret

$35

90 | Domaine Bouchard
Père & Fils

$30

2015 Pouilly-Fuissé Autour de la Roche ^
Ripe notes of peach fuzz meet chalk savor
in this pleasantly round, firmly acidic white.
What fruit sweetness there is gets tamed by
the grainy notes of lees, the wine needing
an hour or two in a decanter to fully open. §
Kobrand, Purchase, NY
227832

2015 Pouilly-Fuissé ^ One taster suggested
the chalk line of this wine's flavor seemed
more Puligny than Pouilly-Fuissé. That
rich chalkiness builds into a cushy pillow of
vanilla and white-fruit jam. Then it ends as
savory as a toasted pecan. § Henriot, NY
227144

90 | Domaine J.A. Ferret

$48

2015 Pouilly-Fuissé Le Clos Tête de Cru ^
A dense and concentrated Pouilly-Fuissé,
this wine's initial scents of apple and pear
broaden to sweet notes of pineapple and
vanilla custard before the tartness comes
back to wrap it up with tension. Suited to age,
this is an impressive 2015 for its rich balance. §
Kobrand, Purchase, NY
227145

BOURGOGNE
228657

92 | Dom. Sylvain Pataille

$28

2015 Bourgogne Aligoté ^ Based in Marsannay, Sylvain Pataille is a high-powered
consultant who has built his own domaine,
including parcels of old-vine aligoté. He's
one of the most vocal advocates for the variety, and his cellar full of single-parcel wines
would convince any reasonable taster that
he has a point. His basic Bourgogne Aligoté
smells like seashells and tastes of tangy
oranges, with a whipped-custard feel to the
texture. It's an elegant white, a clean and distinctly earthy wine to serve with chicken with
mushrooms and cream. § USA Wine Imports,
NY/Selection Pas Mal, NY
227434

90 | Domaine Jean-Jacques
Confuron
$27

2014 Bourgogne Aligoté ^ Dark in tone, this
is a complex aligoté layering fragrant orange
notes over lemon bitters and earthy scents
of freshly dug soil. It has a rustic, old-fashioned Burgundy charm. Serve it with rabbit
rillettes. § Banville Wine Merchants, NY
227868

90 | Cave de Genouilly

$21

87 | Maison Roche
de Bellene

$20

87 | Maison Roche
de Bellene

$16

WINE & SPIRITS

107

$48

2016 Bourgogne Aligoté (Best Buy) ^ As
fragrant as a broth made from shrimp and
lobster shells, this is fresh, with a buttery,
oyster-scented length of flavor. Pour it with
shellfish and cream in puff pastry. § Saranty
Imports, Stamford, CT
221408

2015 Pouilly-Fuissé Les Perrières Tête de
Cru ^ This grows at a 2.4-acre steep, mid-slope
parcel just above Le Clos (also recommended
here). Its ripeness shows in a white-pepper
edge to the clean, saturated richness, with
most of the flavor focused on earth rather
than fruit-limestone baking in the sun and
cooler chalky tones that lend freshness to the
finish. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY

2014 Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ Dark and toasty, with notes
of warm wood spices and bitter orange flavors, this wine has a little brightness in the
end. Chill it for nut-crusted salmon. § Loosen
Bros. USA, Salem, OR
227067

90 | Domaine J.A. Ferret

SAINT-VERAN
228362

90 | Maison Matisco

$25

2015 St-Véran ^ This wine's warm apple flavors point up its mineral acidity, finishing
clean, with a soft landing. The flavors are
fresh and saturated enough to stand up to
an herb-roasted chicken or braised rabbit. §
Cape Classics, NY

2015 Coteaux Bourguignons Bellenos
Cuvée Blanc (Best Buy) ^ Simple, soft and
creamy, this wine holds its freshness in notes
of orange zest and chalk. It's a great buy as
an everyday white Burgundy. (Now there's a
concept!) For spring and summer drinking. §
Loosen Bros. USA, Salem, OR n

$62

2015 Pouilly-Fuissé Les Menetrières
Cuvée Hors-Classe ^ This comes from a small
vineyard at the edge of the village of Fuissé,
a southeast-facing slope where one-third of
the vines are 40 years old. It's a warm and
powerful, barrel-fermented wine, combinAPRIL 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2018