Sarah Marsh MW
Red Mercurey Premier Cru Champs Martin
A parcel with a southerly exposure. A very juicy and expressive aroma, with a rich, satin glide and a smooth depth of tannin. This combines richness with elegance. My favorite red here, together with En Sazenay. 2026–30. | 88
Mercurey Premier Cru Clos L’Evêque
From a climat with a light, pebbly soil, this is slightly more southeast-facing, at the top of a very gentle slope. I find it more charming than the Clos du Roi, with a finer grain of tannin and a nice, fresh, breezy note to balance the ripe, red fruit. A touch of mint to finish. Modest intensity, but it has an easy charm. 2026–30. | 85
Mercurey Premier Cru En Sazenay
From a southeast-facing parcel that is rich in clay. Upright, up-toned red-fruit aroma. Lighter-bodied wine, with silky tannin. A fluid wine in which the silky, supple texture, the fruit, and the salinity entwine as it stretches into quite an elegant finish. 2026–30. | 88
Mercurey Premier Cru Clos des Ruelles (monopole)
From a red soil, due to oxidized iron. Grabs with energy and freshness. Quite dynamic. Punchy, with a rich, earthy character. Both richness and freshness. 2026–35. | 87
MÂCONNAIS
DOMAINE BARRAUD (VERGISSON) The domaine was certified organic in 2022, although Julien and Anaïs’s parents have been working this way since 2005.
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Sur La Roche
Savory, slaty mineral. This is keen and sharp. Pure and racy. Neatly focused. Lovely, long finish. 2026–33. | 92
DOMAINE JA FERRET (FUISSÉ) Spot-on typicité. Translucency to the terroir. Some aging potential, too. All hand-harvested. Part of the Jadot group since 2008.
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Les Ménétrières
This climat has the highest proportion of clay of all the Fuissé vineyards. A burly-bodied and more ferrous wine. Chunky and fresh. While the Perrières is lean and straight, this is fuller. Maybe the Perrières is longer, but I can’t help liking both of them. 2026–33. | 89
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Les Perrières
A lovely example. It’s light, racy Pouilly-Fuissé, with snowflakes and salt on the finish. I like this style of Pouilly-Fuissé. Not profound, but you will drink the bottle. 2026–33. | 89
DOMAINE LES HÉRITIERS DU COMTE LAFON (MILLY-LAMARTINE)
Mâcon Milly-Lamartine Clos du Four
From a parcel at 880ft (270m), with better exposure to the sun than that for the other cuvée of Milly-Lamartine, this shows more depth, grip, and tension, and pushes into the finish. 2027–30. | 86
St-Veran
Good intensity on this straight palate, with its stony note and savory minerality to finish. A step up. A blend of three parcels. Jolly good. 2027–30. | 86–87
DOMAINE GILLES MORAT (VERGISSON) I loved the wines here. The domaine extends over 7.2ha (17.8 acres) and is fully organic. Pierre settled into the family domaine in 2020 after working abroad. He has decreased the proportion of new oak, to 10–15%, and also the amount of added SO2.
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Les Crays
From a mid-slope parcel, this shows the richness of the sunny exposure. It’s a very intense wine. A concentration of fruit and salinity, for it’s eye-wateringly salty and sapid. Quite impressive on the finish, too. A lot on the mid-palate. Good combination of density, power, and minerality. Top-notch. 2027–38. | 92–93
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Sur la Roche
Keen and lean and stretched. Edgy and saline. Quite severe. Very lean. Whiplash finish. 2026–35. | 91
DOMAINE SAUMAIZE-MICHELIN (VERGISSON) Biodynamic farming here since 2005. Impressive wines, with notable depth and terroir distinction.
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Les Crays
A lovely balance of richness and savory minerality. On the richer side, but after the density, there is salty persistence. 2026–25. | 92
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Vers Cras
Rich and ripe attack. Sapid and savory. This has depth and punches into the finish, ending with an oyster-shell smoky note. Really quite good. There is certainly the potential to age this. Among the top two Pouilly-Fuissé wines I tasted in 2023. 2026–35+. | 93
MAISON VERGET (SOLOGNY) Pouilly-Fuissé Haut de la Roche
A pure and floral aroma, then a reserved and salty palate, with keen minerality and zesty citrus fruits. A lively wine, shimmers on the finish. 2025–35. | 89
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Sur la Roche
A rich expression in the 2023 vintage, this certainly has power and body, which combines with depth of texture, but through this a steely core carries the wine to a cool and vigorous finish. 2025–36. | 91
The freshest aroma from this terroir: delicate and lifted, with white flowers. Such freshness, energy, and piquancy. Skips brightly. A bit ephemeral as it dances off the palate, but this is a delightful wine and captures the elegance of this premier cru, which was not easy to do in 2023. 2026–33. | 91
BEAUJOLAIS
CHÂTEAU MOULIN-À-VENT Owner-manager Edouard Parinet started harvesting in Moulin-à-Vent on September 5, “before the heavy rain. We did a lot of whole-bunch—on average, 50%—because we had a good amount of juice in the grapes and the stems had good ripeness.” Edouard is making sophisticated and layered Moulin-à-Vent with well-managed textures.
Moulin-à-Vent Clos de Londres
Rich, for sure, but compact and dense. This has tension and lithe, energetic muscularity. It combines medium-full body/ripeness with freshness. It punches into a savory and persistent finish, with a hint of sapidity to finish. Punches above its weight. Very good indeed. 2026–35. | 90
Moulin-à-Vent Les Grands Savarins
Château du Moulin-à-Vent has a 0.76ha (1.86-acre) parcel within Les Caves, which it calls Les Grands Savarins. After the exuberance of La Rochelle, this is much more introverted. Ripe, certainly, but savory, too, and quite buttoned up. Fine-boned, with a more mineral palate and slightly herbaceous, salty finish. 2026–32. | 88–99
Moulin-à-Vent La Rochelle
In the lieu-dit of La Rochelle, which Edouard calls Petit Garennes, because of the rabbits that burrow here. Ripe, raspberry-coulis on the attack. All the exuberant richness is squeezed through the palate, which contains it to a tight line and propels it into the finish, which fairly fizzles. Yummy. You could drink this immediately or keep it. 2026–32. | 88
Moulin-à-Vent Les Vérillats
Les Vérillats is east-facing, at 1,000ft (300m), with thin granitic sands. Supple, velvety texture. This has luscious black-cherry richness and a sumptuous, bitter dark-chocolate character. Alluring up front, certainly, though as it travels across the palate it gains more herbal, slightly stemmy notes and a decidedly cooler character on the finish. When I tasted this, it was the least integrated of the wines—both quite rich and yet stemmy. I would expect it to gain in precision and tension and for the score to increase. 2025–30+. For now | 87
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 195
DOMAINE PIERRE VESSIGAUD (POUILLY) I found the wines here distinctive and intriguing. Pierre Vessigaud works his 5ha (12-acre) domaine organically. He gives the wines 12 months in older oak, followed by time in stainless steel, to produce wines that are precise and translucent to the terroir.
Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Les Vignes Blanches
LAYING DOWN: 2023 BURGUNDY: CÔTE DE BEAUNE / CÔTE CHALONNAISE / MÂCONNAIS / BEAUJOLAIS
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