COTE DE BEAUNE-WHITE

 

Matrot-Wittersheim is a typical example of how a seemingly new grower bursts onto the scene. Established interior designer Claudine Roussel came to winemaking relatively late, choosing to work the 3.5 hectares she inherited in 1999 from her Grandfather Thierry Matrot. She did some night classes at college in Beaune and jumped in the deep end. And why wouldn't you, if the vines are in Meursault and Volnay? ÒFinesse and purity is what I'm afterÓ, she says with a smile on her face. All the wines are left on the lees to develop complexity, with regular ÒbatonnageÓ, the stirring of the lees that helps to add texture and weight to the wines.

 

Every time we visit Paul Pernot in Puligny-Montrachet, we are struck by the sheer elegance and stunning quality of his wines. Surely one of the top handful of growers in the village - his Pulignys have exquisite delicacy and poise but with the structure to age gracefully. On one of our visits he told us he felt his 2001s have excellent ageing potential, with higher acidity than the 1999s and the 2002s.

His Bourgogne Chardonnay is from vines planted in 1975 with a small track separating them from Villages vines. He also adds one rocky parcel de-classified from the 1er cru Champ Canet vineyard. The Puligny is an assemblage from several parcels with vines between 40 and 45 years old. Always with a fabulous, ethereal perfume, wonderful depth and poise and a hint of 1-2 year old oak (used firstly by the Batard and the Bienvenues-Batard). The Folatieres vines were planted in 1956. He treats them to 30-40% new oak. The wine is concentrated and has a massive finish. His Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet is quite a different balance, less upfront in the nose than the Folatieres but seriously enticing. An explosion in the mouth, a complex mix of nuts, a touch of honey and wild white flowers. The Batard needs time. It is all it should be - tightly wound in the nose when young, large-scaled in the mouth. If you can bear to wait 5-15 years your patience will be repaid, but, if you can?t wait, pour into a decanter for an hour before serving.

 

Tucked away just behind the main sweep of the Cote de Beaune and the lofty villages of Chassagne and Puligny-Montrachet, Saint-Aubin often offers excellent value Burgundy. Here we found Jean-Jacques Morel, a man with an air of inner calm about him, as well as a love of Japanese sabres! With the sense of calm broods a passionate soul - he followed a girl to the USA when he was eighteen, has an Italian mother, married an African woman and came to wine relatively recently and relatively late - he is now 51. He has parcels of Pinot in St Aubin itself and Chardonnay in Puligny. He has a barrel of St Aubin Blanc 2006 which we eagerly await. He wants to make living wine - no chaptalisation, no filtering, no fining. Like us, heÕs not a fan of new oak. What's in the glass? His Puligny is ripe, with a nose hinting at tangerine peel and honey. Broad and ripe in the mouth. His St Aubin and St Aubin ÒLe BanÓ reds are pure, elegant and  quietly vibrant.

 

 

BOURGOGNE BLANC  Paul Pernot

2007

Soon

 

ST AUBIN Jean-Jacques Morel

2006

19.99

 

RULLY BLANC Les Cailloux, Alain Hasard

2005

20.99

 

PERNAND BLANC, Denis Pere & Fils

2006

21.50

 

MERSAULT Clos des Meix, Latour-Labille

2004

22.99

 

MEURSAULT Guy Dubuet

2005

25.99

 

PERNAND SOUS FRETILLE BLANC Denis Pere & Fils

2006

25.99

 

MEURSAULT Matrot Wittersheim

2004

26.99

 

PULIGNY MONTRACHET Paul Pernot

2006

27.50

 

MEURSAULT-BLAGNY, Matrot Wittersheim

2000

35.99

 

MEURSAULT  1er cru Poruztos, Latour-Labille

2002

36.99

 

MERSAULT 1er cru Goutte dÕOr, Latour-Labille

2003

39.99

 

PULIGNY-MONTRACHET  1er cru Folatieres, Paul Pernot

2004

42.99

 

PULIGNY-MONTRACHET  1er cru Clos de la Garenne, Paul Pernot

2004

44.99

 

PULIGNY-MONTRACHET  1er cru Folatieres, Paul Pernot

2006

45.99

 

PULIGNY-MONTRACHET  1er cru Clos de la Garenne, Paul Pernot

2006

45.99

 

PULIGNY-MONTRACHET  1er cru Pucelles, Paul Pernot

2004

54.99

 

CORTON CHARLEMAGNE Grand cru, Denis Pere & Fils

2006

54.99

 

BIENVENUES-BATARD-MONTRACHET  Grand cru, Paul Pernot

1999

74.99

 

BIENVENUES-BATARD-MONTRACHET  Grand cru, Paul Pernot

2001

74.99

 

BATARD-MONTRACHET  Grand cru, Paul Pernot

2001

89.99

 

CRIOTS-BATARD-MONTRACHET  Grand cru, Roger Belland

2001

89.99

 

BATARD-MONTRACHET  Grand cru, Paul Pernot

2003

92.99