Burgundy’s White: A Journey Through Grace and Depth

Our Chablis has been made for us by Sébastien Dampt. The warm and dry 2022 vintage has given a ripe and fleshy citrus fruit character which combines harmoniously with the classic Chablis notes of iodine and oyster shell. Entirely unoaked, this is perfect as an apéritif or with fresh seafood.

Drink 2024 - 2027

Adam Bruntlett, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd

The nose of our 2022 White Burgundy offers up a bouquet of juicy white stone fruit and subtle, toasty oak. Succulent peach and nectarine flavours fill the palate, tempered by zesty citrus and rounded out with notes of melted butter and a sizzling, iodine finish.

Drink now to 2026

Adam Bruntlett, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd

We’ve worked once again with the magical Merlin family to bring you this distinguished and characterful Pouilly-Fuissé. Carefully selected fruit from late-ripening vineyards in Vergisson, Fuissé and Chaintré gives a wine with freshness and energy. This offsets the generous stone and citrus fruits beautifully, combining with subtle oak spice, yielding a complex and layered wine. It pairs beautifully with white meats, seafood and goat’s cheese.

Drink 2024 - 2028

Adam Bruntlett, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd

From the walled clos surrounding Château de Puligny-Montrachet, this is fast becoming an iconic wine. The deep silt and clay soils help to resist dry conditions. The attack has juicy citrus and white stone-fruit. Pleasing acidity runs right through the wine. The white-flower notes and gentle, lacy texture make this feel like a Puligny in all but name. 

Drink 2023 - 2030

Berry Bros. & Rudd

Les Longays Pouilly-Vinzelles comes from an east facing vineyard on clay limestone, and a small portion spends time in oak. Bright and nimble, with lemon pith, lemon peel tightening a lightly creamy / silken palate, framed with toasted wood, and finishing with a twist of lemon pith and a swath of reduction. 

All the fruit is sourced from 1.5 ha within the Meursault commune which cover all aspects, from north to south. Aged in 600l and 500l barrels to avoid oak influence and retain the wine’s energy. There is a good spicy attack and, at tasting, some crispy reduction. A neat and delicious wine.

Drink 2023-2027

The fruit comes from five lieux-dits to the north of Meursault. Fleshy, yellow apple aromas present on the nose and stone fruit on the palate. It has an excellent texture of peaches and cream. The acidity is bright and it feels very precise. This is well made, modern Bourgogne Blanc and offers immediate pleasure.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

Poruzots is a vineyard quick to ripen and, in an early year like 2017, care is needed. Certainly the wine shows an opulent side in 2017 but the year’s in-built freshness pulls the finish together. A potentially garrulous wine that has learnt some self-awareness. Drink 2023-2029.

Winemaker Brian Sieve draws comparisons between the white wines of 2017 and 2014, explaining that the texture, weight and freshness are very similar in both years, although 2017 has perhaps a little more fruit ripeness, along with excellent tension and persistence. He believes that this same freshness and brightness in the reds will provide ageing capacity, pointing out that they worked hard to restrict the yield of Pinot Noir to achieve riper grapes. Overall slightly less whole-bunch fermentation was used as Brian felt the stems and fruit were not as ripe as in richer vintages.

Made by our good friends Jean-Luc Terrier and Christian Collovray, this is a textbook example of white Burgundy. Complex yet restrained aromas of citrus and white stone fruit combine with stony minerals and a subtle oak spice. The palate is generous and mouth-filling, culminating in a zesty, vibrant finish and a creamy, toasted aftertaste. Enjoy with grilled seafood or fresh goat’s cheese – or on its own as an apéritif.

Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (January 2025)

The vines here are in the Côte de Bréchin, which is noted for its grey-blue marl and gives the wine its textbook bacon-fat reduction and mineral power. The nose is intense and complex, with a smoky, brooding character masking the fruit at present. The palate is concentrated, dense and chewy, with a dry, mineral finish that is almost tannic in profile. A wonderful wine which needs a little time. Drink 2022-2028.

This is from 0.27 hectares, from Dessous and between Clos de la Perrière and the Puligny border. François is not afraid to let the wine express its power. The 2019 was deeply textured but the ’20 feels more composed, without losing its charisma. This has a clear and palpable equilibrium and should make fabulous old bones. Drink 2028-2045. 

Aromas of orange oil, wheat toast, pear and white flowers preface the 2018 Bourgogne Blanc Murgey de Limozin, a new lieu-dit bottling from Pierre Boisson that's medium to full-bodied, layered and enveloping, with a fleshy and generous profile reflecting its location not far from Meursault Charmes.
- Wine Advocate, Jan 2021

Anyone looking for a refreshing and energetic expression of white Burgundy would do well to choose Sébastien Magnien's Bourgogne Blanc. It is a delightfully crisp and saline Bourgogne Blanc, made entirely in barrel from 30-year-old vines in the Hautes-Côtes. There is even a touch of sophistication from the struck-match reduction on the nose.

Drink 2023 - 2026

Berry Bros. & Rudd

Normally a blend from 75% of generic fruit from Meursault and 25% in Puligny, but the Meursault vines suffered much more from the frost, so this year the percentages are reversed. The result is a wine leaning much more towards the spicy gunflint style of Puligny. The wine is admirably correct, with well-delineated refreshing lines, and a commendable density on the finish.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

This 0.2-hectare site in the clay-rich climat of Châtains. These vines are relatively young (25 years old), and this tends to be the earliest drinking of the Pinsons’ Premiers Crus. There’s an appealing earthy reduction and floral touches on the nose. The palate is fresh, with a little oak adding creamy, toasty notes before a tight, crisp finish.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

By contrast with the expressiveness of the Goutte d'Or, this is much more reserved and with a different aromatic profile more given to seductive and slightly exotic spices, citrus blossom and orange peel that leads to classy, rich, full and naturally sweet palate coating flavors as the dry extract is every bit as impressive.

Like all of the Lafon '07s, it is the impeccable balance that really sets these wines apart and the Genevrières is a wine of perfect harmony, particularly on the linear and explosive finish.
(Allen Meadows, burghound.com - Jun 2010)

This is a brilliantly pure expression of the Mâconnais region. The nose is elegant with white flowers, citrus zest, and ripe orchard fruits—think golden apple and juicy pear— and underlined by wet stone and a touch of almond. On the palate, it is both generous and precise, with a creamy texture balanced by a vibrant backbone of acidity. Subtle oak ageing adds refinement, with hints of vanilla and brioche that never overpower the wine’s innate freshness. This is drinking beautifully right now.

Mark Ferguson, Fine Wine Specialist, Berry Bros. & Rudd

The old vines here ensure this is a remarkably consistent wine that retains its character regardless of the vintage conditions. The nose is rich, exuberant, and spicy, with plenty of ripe fruit that follows through on the palate. Don’t be fooled, though; there is also a stinging acidity that maintains the balance. This is an outstanding, concentrated wine.

Jean-Philippe explained how he and his vineyard team had to work extremely hard after the 2016 frost, managing the vines to ensure that the following year’s growth would not be compromised. Meticulous marathon runner Jean-Philippe is just the man for such an arduous task. He is delighted with the results, explaining that quality is excellent and the yield was neither too big nor too small. These wines are as reliably fresh and precise as you expect, with each vineyard’s character shining through.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

A strikingly elegant and pure nose that features notes of white flowers, spiced pear, iodine and oyster shell is also trimmed in a deft touch of oak. There is remarkable concentration to the intense, driving and highly energetic flavors that exude a fine minerality on the explosively long finish. This really builds from the mid-palate before staining the palate as it fans out. Most impressive. - Burghound

Bright yellow with a green tinge. Classic Montée de Tonnerre aromas of lemon ice, crushed rock, iodiney minerality and white flowers. floral, lemon ice, straight and classic. Tactile, juicy and utterly gripping--in fact still almost painful today. Powerful salty minerality and penetrating acidity currently dominate the wine's lemon oil, grapefruit and floral flavors, with the wine showing a weightless impression. The dusty mineral-driven finish stains the palate and builds inexorably. (When I first tasted this wine from the barrel, I suggested that it might be the longest Chablis premier cru of the vintage.) Drink the 2010 for lunch now but hold this magical wine for another couple years, as its spring is still tightly coiled. This was my favorite wine of the tasting. The 2014 and 2010 vintages may be richer and deeper, as Isabelle Raveneau suggested to me three years ago, but this '08 is utterly classic. - Vinous 96/100

We are thrilled to have a small allocation of this wine from Burgundys greatest white vineyard. There is not space to do it justice here but suffice to say that the fruit bursts out in every possible direction and dimension. Theres an awesome sense of completeness although the detail will take some time to show itself. Do not touch it before its 10 years old and keep a few bottles to celebrate your first telegram from the Queen!

The 2022 Meursault, by Domaine Antoine Jobard, is a blend of multiple parcels, including the prized En la Barre and Tillets, Meix Tavaux, Les Corbins, Sous La Velle, Les Chaumes, and Le Pré de Manche. It has a beautiful creamy richness with outstanding volume and depth of fruit on the mid-palate. There are aromas of pear and stone fruit and an underlying nuttiness. This is one of the finest modern village Meursault wines and will age well over the midterm.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

From the small block separated from the main vineyard, immediately above Le Cailleret from which it was created in 1955, and the most northerly plot of Chevalier. This is buzzing: Chevalier often feels tighter and less opulent than Le Montrachet, as is the case here, but the vintage’s freshness gives an irresistible dynamism to match the wine’s intensity. Drink 2028-2045. 

Domaine Boisson-Vadot, run by father and son team of Bernard and Pierre Boisson, is one of the rising stars in Mersault. The philosophy of the Domaine revolves around careful, hands-on vineyard management to coax the greatest potential of each vintage out of the various plots, and low-impact winemaking in the cellars that allows the unique terroir of each vineyard to surface. New oak is very minimal, no more than 30% for the top cuvées, and much more restraint in  the village wines and in Bourgogne Blanc.

The nose is complex and fascinating, slightly floral, with a little bit of graphite, giving the idea that the main block of wine is not even starting to show but is just giving off a few little waves of flavour to amuse us with. Huge potential here, more acidity at the back, what a wealth of fruit! Startling stuff and really very long indeed.

Jasper Morris MW, InsideBurgundy.com (February 2022)

There is exceptional weight to the nose of this majestic Montrachet; the fruit absolutely dances in the glass, keeping the wood in check. With massive weight, real elegance and perfect balance, this is a winner!

The 2018 Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières opens in the glass with notes of citrus oil, pear, oatmeal and struck flint, framed by a deft touch of smoky reduction. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and intense, with racy acids and a searingly chalky finish. Anne Morey tells me that her father farmed this 0.55-hectare parcel before acquiring it at the end of the 1980s, and the composition of the soils suggests that this was the location where rejected stones from the quarry that lends the climat its name were discarded. - Wine Advocate

Another new lieu-dit bottling is the 2017 Mâcon-Verzé Le Monté, which derives from a vineyard located above the hamlet of Escolles on a plateau rich in flint, and fully one-third of which was fermented and raised in wood. Unfurling in the glass with scents of pear, pastry cream, smoky and toasted nuts, it's medium to full-bodied, with a broader attack and a more saline finish than the Chênes, though it shares the incisiveness that distinguishes all of Leflaive's Mâcon cuvées this year.

Drink 2018 - 2028

William Kelley, Wine Advocate (August 2019)

The 2017 Auxey-Duresses Les Cloux is lovely, delivering an incipiently complex bouquet of pear, woodsmoke, dried white flowers and fresh pastry. It's medium to full-bodied, satiny and textural, built around racy acids and chalky dry extract.

Drink 2022 - 2037

A ripe and mildly exotic combination offers notes of lychee nut, white peach, spice, jasmine tea and a hint of matchstick character. There is impressive richness to the opulent, round and full-bodied flavors that coat the palate with dry extract on the bitter lemon and slightly warm but well-focused finish. This is a relatively tightly wound 2015 that should age well. - Burghound

Delicate, light colour with faint green notes, this has a very elegant, classy nose, still with a layer of velvet. This is lively, vibrant and very dense, with pure ripe pears. It is very long and has quite a bit of power behind it; there is exceptional potential here.

The sometimes hesitant Caroline Gagnard was confident when showing us her excellent range of 2015s, and rightly so. Poor conditions during flowering have resulted in a small crop in red but somewhat better for white. Caroline began picking on 31 August and thinks that 2015 resembles a mix of 2010, ‘12, and ‘13, describing the wines as being both “glace et sorbet” – i.e., with the fresh precision of a sorbet and the richer texture of ice cream.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

5-10% fermented and aged five to six months in old barrels, the rest in tank and aged therein for 10-12 months.

Light notes of citrus and cedar, more open and expressive than some. With the rounded texture of that oak-fermented portion determining the overall style though there is no oak flavour. Gentle and creamy but still very fresh on the longish finish.

Drink now

Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com (October 2017)

There is both good freshness and reasonably good typicity to the white orchard fruit scents that are laced with soft citrus nuances. The vibrant and nicely concentrated medium weight flavors possess a caressing and succulent mouthfeel while delivering fine depth and persistence though there is a bit of perceptible backend warmth. This is a quality Petit Chablis that could be enjoyed young or cellared for a few years first.

Drink 2023+

Burghound (Nov 2020)