Note: from Les Meix, Houlières, Corvée des Vignes and Le Noyer Bret. Smoky reduction dominates the nose save for a glimpse of floral character. By contrast there is good verve and freshness to the utterly delicious, sleek and well-detailed medium-bodied flavors that coat the palate on the clean, dry and balanced finale. This is an excellent, and really quite classy, Puligny villages and definitely recommended. *Burghound Outstanding Top Value!*

The 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Village has a stern bouquet with petrichor and Granny Smiths - perhaps needing a little more intensity? The well-balanced palate has a smooth entry, with lime and orange pith and a fine bead of acidity. But maybe its Chassagne-Montrachet counterpart finishes with a touch more complexity. Still, this will give a decade's of drinking pleasure. Alexandre Bachelet greeted me at the winery in Maranges. Recent vintages have been a treasure trove of supremely well-crafted wines, both whites and reds, that have garnered a strong and loyal following. “I like the substance in the reds in 2022, though for the whites, the 2021 is more ‘tendu’ [tense]. We started the picking on August 25 with the whites and September 1 for the reds. After that, we changed between the white and red parcels. It was a classic vinification with yields around 40hL/ha up to 55hL/ha, alcohol levels around 12.8% to 13.2% for both colors.” Standouts here include a stunning Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières that must surely rank as one of the finest from that vineyard. It actually slipped past the Bâtard-Montrachet…it’s that good.(NM)