Eyes and palates have been focused on the 2017 white Burgundies being offered en primeur this month, and it's an excellent vintage in decent quantities, but it'll be a while before most are shipped, so I've tasted half a dozen of the The Wine Society's current wines, four 2016s and a Meursault from each of 2014 and 2013. Stored well, they can be drunk any time over the next fours years, or in the case of the Coche-Bizouard Premier Cru Meursault six or even seven years.
Domaine Cordier, Mâcon Milly-Lamartine Clos du Four 2016, £14.95
Delicate white flower, acacia honey and citrus nose, fine-spun texture and tight structure with apple, lemon and almond notes and a salty mineral streak. From one of the best Mâcon villages, Milly-Lamartine, and its best vineyard, Clos de Four (or du Four). Christophe Cordier picks early, which emphasises the cool, zingy minerality of the elevated, late-ripening vineyard, but he used to pick late for a more opulent, oaky style. I loved them at the time, but am completely won over by the tauter, more precise style he now captures. 13%
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Domaine Guillemot-Michel Quintaine 2016, £21.00
In contrast to Milly-Lamartine, Quintaine in Viré-Clessé, home to Marc, Pierrette and Sophie Guillemot-Michel's 6-hectare biodynamic estate, is one of the warmest spots in the Mâconnais. Their unoaked 2016 has lovely toasted-wheat, grilled-almond and tinglingly fresh lemon-zest aromas and a fleshy, rich-textured, concentrated palate with sweet apple and peach flavours trimmed with grapefruit peel. 13%
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Olivier Leflaive Bourgogne Oncle Vincent 2016, £20.00
Classified as Bourgogne but made from Olivier Leflaive's own vines, his oldest and best, in Puligny-Montrachet and regarded as a mini Puligny. This is barrel fermented and matured, has smoky hazelnuts and minerals on the nose, and impressive intensity, roundness and silkiness cut through by piercing acidity and saline notes. 13%
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Jean-Marc Vincent Montagny Premier Cru 2016, £25.00
Fermented in 300-litre barrels (i.e. larger barrels), this is Montagny of real elegance, depth and energy. Quite oaky still, but balanced, with a distinctive and delicious spiciness, sweet and salted-almond notes and a salty, toasty, nutty finish stretched out by youthful acidity. Out of the ordinary. Almost more Cote d’Or than Montagny. 13%
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Château de Meursault Meursault Clos des Grands Charrons 2014, £45
Clos des Grands Charrons is a Monopole (i.e. all owned by Château de Meursault) and, although not a Premier Cru, it's better than regular village Meursault, especially in a vintage of the calibre of 2014. Youthful, concentrated and salty with honeyed sweetness, spice and fruit emerging from a creamy, silken texture, nutty richness and concentration. 13%
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Domaine Coche-Bizouard, Meursault Premier Cru Gouttes d’Or 2013, £49
A cool vintage that yielded mixed results, but some very good ones, witness this unfiltered Premier Cru from Fabien Coche (cousin of the feted Coche Dury family and domaine). Honeyed, nutty, sourdough-bread nose and the same rich, freshly baked sourdough depth to the palate. Generous, fleshy, succulent and savoury with fine, balancing acidity giving mouthwatering freshness. Just coming into its own. Could be kept 6 or 7 years. 14%
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Photographs by Joanna Simon
