Sarah Marsh MW
Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Morgeot
From Petit Clos and Fairendes. What an elegant Morgeot; neatly edged, silky, crisp, and slightly earthy, with a slippery stone character and rather a pure finish. 2024–31. | 92
Red
Pommard Premier Cru Charmots Upright and piquant aroma, while on the palate, more depth, with some tension. Straight palate, with cool sapidity, light grip, and minerality on the finish. 2026–30+. | 92–93
Pommard Premier Cru Clos de Vergers
Red-fruit and floral aromas. Silky, supple, and slim. This ripples nicely on the palate, with an elegant and lively feel. A line of freshness on the finish. 2025–30+. | 92
Pommard Premier Cru Rugiens
Cool and floral, with lively intensity on the neatly layered and compact palate, which is channeled and stony to finish. 2026–30+. | 94
DOMAINE MARC MOREY Sabine Mollard recalled that it was difficult to stay positive during the 2021 growing season, when the work was so hard. “I prefer Chardonnay in larger quantities,” she explained. “Small yields can make less elegant wines. But there is good definition of terroir in this colder vintage. I like to use the lees and do bâtonnage once a week until the malolactic, and then just once a month. I think you can age this vintage.”
Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Chenevottes
So fruity and forward. Packs in the fruit on the mid-palate. Sweet, mandarin juiciness to finish. Not long but so inviting. 2024–28. | 90
Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Vergers
More reserve. There are white flowers and white pepper on the nose. Streamlined, detailed, and focused. Delicate, fresh citrus lime, and lively energy. 2025–30. | 92–93
Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru En Virondot
Perfumed, pure, and straight. This is lively, keen, and lean. Clipped and racy. Taut and long. Saline at the end. Precise finish. Detailed wine. I really like the combination of salinity and floral notes. 2026–30+. | 95
Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Referts
This will be the last vintage for this wine here, as the fruit has become just too expensive, and another négociant will pay more. Full, rich, dense, and succulent, with fresh drive on the long finish. Powerful. 2026–30+. | 94–95
CÔTE CHALONNAISE
CHÂTEAU DE CHAMIREY White Mercurey
Lightly rounded, citrus palate. Quite generous on the mid-palate, but well-balanced by crunchy freshness and a pinch of salt to finish. Attractive. 2023–25. | 83–84
Red
Mercurey Premier Cru Clos du Roi Softly fruity attack, fresh and juicy, with forest fruit, but there is plenty of grip to follow, too. Indeed, it becomes quite gutsy, a little robust in its tannin, but encased in succulence and good generosity of fruit. An honest wine. 2025–30. | 87
MÂCONNAIS
DOMAINE DU CLOS DES ROCS Pouilly-Loché En Chantone
Nicely plump and rounded, underscored with freshness. Finishes on a salty, nutty note. Appealing. 2023–25. | 84
DOMAINE LES HÉRITIERS DU
COMTE LAFON Pierre Lafon said the growing season was even worse in the Mâconnais than on the Côte d’Or, because there was more rain. They lost 70% to frost, the worst-affected parcels being in the north of the region. There was also some hail. There are nine cuvées, but some are blends this year. Aged in foudres (35hl to 55hl in size) and some demi-muids (600 liters). Bottled in July and August 2022. Pierre is rightly positive about the results: “Wines with more finesse and precision. A vintage with more tension. So different from the past few years.”
Mâcon-Bussières
A blend of lieu-dit Le Monsard and another 2.5-acre (1ha) plot. Lime fruit. Vibrant. Sweetness balanced with sour lime, attractively bitter and pithy to finish. 2023–26. | 85–86
Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine
Higher altitude vines. Much more tension. Keener and sharper. Candied citrus on the nose and an energetically citrus palate, with a bright bite of freshness. Flighty. I really like this. 2023–26. | 86
Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine Clos du Four
Compact, stony, and savory. Broader and quite earthy, with an assertive grip. Good. 2023–27. | 86
Mâcon-Uchizy Includes Les Maranches, with other parcels from the village. Softer wine. Pineapple fruit and purple aromatics. Quite soft. 2023–25. | 82–83
CHÂTEAU DU MOULIN-À-VENT Two of the age-worthy Beaujolais from owner Jean-Jacques Parinet and his son Edouard, who have brought about a great renaissance at this property at the heart of the appellation since their first vintage in 2009.
Moulin-à-Vent Clos de Londres
Grip, crunch, and vigor. Good depth and ripeness to the hedgerow fruit. This has layering and tension. Quite bullish, but it also shows mineral freshness. A tight, persistent, and sappy finish, on the more herbal side, but it pushes on and should age well. 2025–30+. | 87
Moulin-à-Vent La Rochelle
Light strawberry juiciness combines with soft culinary herbs, marjoram and wild sage. An aromatic palate, lean and light and wafting, focuses nicely, becoming more refined and sharper, with nice tension to finish. 2024–30. | 85
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023 | 201
Fresh and citrus. Neatly edged. Vibrant, juicy finish. Bright and singing. 2023–27. | 86–87
DOMAINE DE LA SOUFRANDIÈRE / BRET BROTHERS This is the 30-acre (12ha) domaine that has been Demeter-certified organic since 2006, while Bret Brothers is the négociant side, drawing in fruit from a further 22 acres (9ha) across the Mâconnais and Beaujolais.
Bret Brothers Pouilly-Fuissé Terres de Vergisson
North-facing on red soil. Fresh and snappy. Juicy fruit backed up with plenty of sapidity. An attractive phenolic note to finish. 2024–27. | 86
La Soufrandière Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Longeays
Taut, zesty, and lively, with a bright and saline finish. Quite piquant. 2024–27. | 85–86
La Soufrandière St-Véran La Bonnode
From a 5-acre (2ha) east-facing square at the bottom of the rock, with white clay. Really quite spicy, with notes of ground coriander; earthy and quite broad, but with plenty of freshness and bite to finish. 2024–26. | 84
BEAUJOLAIS
Pouilly-Fuissé En Chantenay
I like the tension here. Savory and stony and edgy. It is well-contained and flows through well on a cool, mineral finish. 2024–27. | 88
St-Véran
Tasted after the Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine Clos du Four, this seemed to go up a level in intensity, with a lively punch to finish. 2023–27. | 86–87
Viré-Clessé
2021 BURGUNDY: CÔTE DE BEAUNE / CÔTE CHALONNAISE / MÂCONNAIS / BEAUJOLAIS
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